The New Era of New York
by Helena Betherr
Summary: The city reaches its lowest when Karai takes over; forcing the turtles into hiding. Half a decade later, will the brothersbe able to take back what is theirs? And how can a team of strong willed girls with a strange leader possibly help them? Full summary inside, rated T, all turtlesxOC's. REWRITE
1. Chapter 1

**New York City has just reached its lowest downfall. When Karai has supposedly murdered the turtles, she sets her mind on taking over the city. With the city under her control, its people are reduced to being homeless, cruel, rag-tag teams and thieves. Now, five years later, the turtles return to take back their city. While they're fighting a losing battle with a small army of Foot ninjas, a band of girls show up and save them from being captured. But, will the group of street fighter girls help them or distract them from the problem at hand? Will the guys gain feelings they've never felt before? Can they trust these girls with their secret? How far will these two parties go to take back their home?**

**The New Era of New York**

_Screams and cries echoed throughout the burning city. The red, orange and yellow flames licked at buildings and brought them down, rubble and debris hitting the ground. Watching from one of the roof tops, bloody and broken, four turtles and a robed rat watched as the city fell apart. Foot ninja marched through the streets, cutting down any civilian who opposed them. School children were being led away, crying for their presumably dead parents. High schoolers were rounded up and taken. Everything was destroyed._

_"W-what are we g-gonna do?" Michelangelo's baby blues were wide with fright as they took in the destruction. Mikey's hand was pressed to his other arm's dislocated shoulder. Beside him, two of his older brothers were leaning on each other for support._

_Leonardo had his arm around Donnie's shoulder. Don's right leg was held up by a crude splint made of bandages and a piece of wood and there were crimson gashes all over his legs and lower torso. The purple banded turtle was barely acknowledging the pain that coursed through his lower body as he stared, along with his brothers._

_Suppressing a grunt of pain, Leo shifted Donatello into a more comfortable position, "Nothing. We are in no shape to battle any longer." Silver eyes were narrowed and blazing with an almost uncontrollable fire as he spoke._

_"Like shell!" Raph growled. He took a step forward, but was stopped by a furry paw on his shoulder. "Masta Splinta! We can't just leave da city like dis!"_

_Splinter shook his head slowly, a small cloud of ash falling from his fur as he did so, "My sons, I am afraid we have no other choice."_

_The family managed to make their way down the side of the building without being seen. Raphael bent down and heaved the man hole lid up and let his family go down first__,__ watching Leonardo and Splinter helping along Donatello__.__ He walked down the ladder a few steps before looking up and taking his final look at the city._

_The screams had quieted somewhat but soft crying and the marching feet of the ninja was still evident. Dark smoke wafted in the air, mingling with the scent of blood and pollution._

_Golden eyes burning, the red banded turtle slowly put the lid of the manhole down, shedding darkness on the sewers that would never be shown light until centuries later when the mutants and humans would band together to take back their home._


	2. Chapter 2

**The New Era of New York**

Five Years Later

"Teegan, you may be the captain," A lanky, young woman with long, dark hair gazed down at her exhausted friend, "But you don't have to come with us on every mission. You look as if you're going to pass out."

Lying on the bed, Teegan crossed her arms and said in a firm voice, "You've said that for almost two weeks, and I haven't fainted yet." Propping herself up onto her elbows, Teegan sat up and rubbed her head. Her short, brown hair, that was dark enough to be black, was tied back into a tight plait that went down her pale neck.

"Look, Meg, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong, except that I have a few idiots working as fighters." Teegan said.

Meg, or Megami as her full name, smiled and laughed, "You mean those girls who drove into Jesse?" She asked her voice full of amusement. Jesse was another close friend of theirs. She had fiery orange hair and a competitive attitude that allowed her to win victory in both battles and games. A few days ago on the girl's last mission, three girls had stolen a car and were trying to drive it into a crowd of Foot Ninja. It figured they'd crash into something, or someone that's what you get when you don't have a practiced driver.

Teegan managed a weak smile and pushed herself up off the bed. She swayed a little, but then she stood up straight and walked to the door of her room. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked back at Megami, "Are you coming, Meg? I'm going to make sure you girls don't die on my watch."

Meg shook her head, but followed her shorter friend down the hall to the hotel's lobby There, sitting on the carpet, crowded onto small couches, and squished onto tables and counters were the rest of the girls. All of them were dressed in black clothing with boots and a bullet-proof vest.

Most of them looked up as Teegan and Megami came closer. When Teegan stopped in front of the girls, Meg walked past her to join the rest of the girls on the floor.

"Ok, girls, we all know why our last mission failed," As if on cue, all the young women turned to glare at a tiny, huddled group of girls that looked no older than fourteen. Teegan gave a scolding look, and then continued talking to her team, "All I'm going to say now is that we can't mess up again. One of our best fighters is ou-"

"YEAH! That's right, you losers! I'm one of the best fighters!"

More than thirty heads swiveled around to watch a flame haired woman hopping around on one foot. Her face was beaming and her cheeks red from walking with a bad foot. Jesse's left leg was bandaged up, but with her personality, there was nothing that could be done to make the woman stay in bed.

Teegan rubbed her eyes, "Jesse..."

"Yes."

"Get your butt into bed."

Jesse poked out her tongue and lifted her hands up into the air, "Ugh! Beds are so boring."

Snorts of laughter went through the hotel lobby. Sitting in the front, Megami and a petite, blonde stood up. They each took one of Jesse's arms and moved her to a chair that was crowded with four girls who had squished together. The four immediately moved to the floor and Jesse was placed in the chair.

Jesse grinned and looked up at Teegan, waving her hand wildly "Please, please. Go on, captain."

Teegan rolled her eyes, but smiled, "As I was saying. One of our fighters," She made sure to keep out 'best', "Is out and will not be coming on any missions for a while. So, we can't mess up again. Next time, we might not be so lucky. I want everyone to suit up and get ready for another weapon raid."

The girls let out cheers as they thought of new and stronger weapons, "I call for a gun!"

"They don't use guns, moron!" Another voice yelled.

Smiles went around and Teegan shook her head, "Our lookouts have been having a hard time tracing, but they have found a warehouse where the Foot Ninja go every few days to check. We're leaving now to make sure that they never have to check on those weapons again." Teegan finished with a smirk.

"We'll make them check out!" The same tiny, blonde who'd helped Meg with Jesse gave a wild grin.

"That we will, Simmy. Just don't slip into any sewerage again." Teegan chuckled when Simmy's face fell into a cute pout. But the face was immediately changed into one of adrenaline, "Let's go kick some Foot. Wait, that doesn't sound right..." Everyone in the lobby was silent as they watched Simmy think.

Two minutes went by. Eventually, Simmy let out a frustrated sound and said, "We're going to be a bunch of thorns in their foot by the time we're done with them!"

With that, the girls let out a war cry. They stood up and began rushing around to retrieve their weapons and armor. It was time for a weapon raid, Teegan thought. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that something strange was going to happen tonight. Whatever it was, they had to be ready to expect anything. With that, Teegan locked eyes on Megami, Simmy and Jesse. They all gave slight nods, and then went off in opposite directions. Simmy and Jesse went back to Jesse's room, and Megami went to see if everyone was ready to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

**The New Era of New York**

"Shh! Keep quiet, girls." Megami hissed to the long line of girls behind her. After everyone had suited up (in the first few months when the city had been taken over, the first group of girls had made regular trips to the police stations for bullet-proof vests, combat boots and helmets. Then they'd gone to deserted warehouses where they'd taken all the supplies they could get, including food and clothing, utensils they could use as weapons and anything else they thought useful. Teegan had been one of the few who'd gone, so she made sure everyone had enough armor), Teegan had led them out the basement doorway. They'd come out behind the hotel and Teegan pulled out an old cellular and punched a few digits in. It rang once before a mechanic voice came through, "This number does not exist. Please check all numbers."

Teegan impatiently tapped her foot, before saying into the phone, "Triple."

What had been a mechanic voice, changed to a soft whisper of a girl's voice, "Captain, we've located the warehouse. A group of ninja have just left it. If we're going to get in, we have to do it now."

"On our way." Teegan replied. She shut off the phone and slid it into the heel of one of her combat boots. Glancing back at the girls; she made sure all of them were out of the hotel and in the alley, before she raced off. Megami watched as one-by-one, the young women ran after their captain. Simmy passed her, and the young blonde gave a smile. Then she was gone, taking off after Teegan.

Meg pushed the last girl forward, closed the back door of the hotel, and then followed the group from the back. From the back of the line, Megami could see Teegan in front leading the girls and Simmy in the middle, helping any of the girls that lagged. With Meg, a fourteen year old was panting already. Grabbing her wrist, she pulled the girl along.

They were running down a street, when Meg heard a truck coming around the corner behind them. Lifting a finger to her lips, she gave a short, shrill whistle. As if rehearsed, the long line of young women ducked into the nearest shop. Some went into a dusty book store; others had jumped into a rusty ice-cream parlor. Teegan leaped with some of the girls into the ice-cream parlor and there was some scrambling as they tried to find hiding places. Teegan threw herself onto the top shelf of a wall case, flattening herself against the wood. The others hid behind the countertops, on shelves and even in broken refrigerators.

Simmy and Megami had followed the rest into the book shop. As they were stuck with the less experienced and younger females, the two pushed the girls towards safe spots. Megami glanced back and her eyes caught sight of a pair of headlights coming their way. With a small cry, she grabbed Simmy and dragged both of them to the grimy, mould smelling floor.

Damn, damn, damn, damn! She thought to herself as she climbed over Simmy to make sure no one else was in the light. Simmy lay flat on her stomach, breathing heavily. Her face was pressed against the floor and her baby blues were wide with sudden fright.

They had ducked to the floor just in time. A truck came rambling down the uneven, holey road; it's bright, yellow lights swinging over the bookshop, before continuing to the ice-cream store. Megami let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

The truck passed slowly and Meg watched with anxious eyes for it to pass...but, instead of the truck going by, it stopped.

Peering over the side of a book shelf, Meg gave a soft gasp that brought everyone's attention to her, "They've stopped." She breathed out. The girls tensed up and they started withdrawing knives, baseball bats, and plastic guns that shot rubber bullets. But, before anyone of them could move, Simmy pointed back at the truck, "They're going onto the roof!"

Meg lifted her head and watched as the Foot leapt onto the roof. Confused, she pulled out her own battered cell and texted quickly to Teegan.

**FOOT. ROOF. **It was only two words, but Teegan would understand.

Sure enough, another text came back,** STAY. I GO.**

Meg sent a whispered messaged among the girls and soon every one of them knew what Teegan had said. They were silent for a minute. A minute turned into two, then three. Then they heard Teegan's strong voice, from the roof, yelling, "ATTACK NOW!"

Without any hesitation, the girls jumped out of the hiding places, letting out cries of war. In a matter of seconds, over thirty girls had run out of two neighboring stores and were jumping onto the roof, their bodies moving like cats. Most of them climbed to the top by the fire escape that was on the side of the building in an alley. Others linked fingers, and girls would use their hands as jumping points by jumping with one foot onto their palms and leaping upwards.

Meg and Simmy used each other as ladders by crossing their arms together and flinging each other against the walls, catching loose bricks and grabbing onto jutting pieces of debris. Meg's first glance showed her that Teegan was protecting four tall, muscular figures that had been attacked by the Foot ninjas. Without a second thought, Megami pulled out a BB gun and Simmy dug a sharp knife from her belt. Meg shot at the closest ninja, striking him right in the eye. The black clad fighter stumbled back and Simmy leapt forward, and slashed at him.

Needless to say, the two friends worked well together. Megami stunned them and Simmy finished them. It was almost funny to see a ninja shot in the eye, then a blonde blur race up to him. Megami stepped forward and shot a few more rounds of bullets. Two ninjas crept behind her, and Meg whipped around to shoot them.

Her fingers pressed against her gun, but nothing came out except an empty clicking sound. Horror seeped into her eyes. With trembling fingers, Megami dropped her plastic gun and backed away from the two. She didn't know how to fight hand to hand.

She fearfully backed herself into a corner on the edge of the roof. Her eyes darted around, pleading for someone to help her, but everyone was busy with the other ninjas. Meg almost fell backwards, when she'd been trying to find something solid behind her, her fingers touched nothing but cool night air.

The two ninjas unsheathed katanas from their backs and came forward. Feeling nauseous, Megami tried to dodge away. The katanas swiped through the baggy, black shirt she wore. But, she felt the tips of the blades come in contact with her chest.

With the force of the two blades, Megami felt herself fall over the edge of the roof...

It was like opening a car window and sticking your head out of it, while you were driving at fast speeds. Air rushed past her. She couldn't breathe. Her hair streamed over her face and eyes, making it impossible to see. But that didn't stop her from screaming as the cement came closer.

"Wow, hold it!" Out of nowhere, a wounded, sinew arm caught her a few feet above the ground. Megami took shaky breaths. She had come that close to being killed. Meg felt herself being lowered to the ground. She was set down onto her knees by her savior, who dropped down next to her.

The arm returned to its place around her waist, and Megami felt herself being pulled to her feet.

"You ok?"

Megami lifted her dizzy head to look at the man. "T-Thank y-y-you." She said, lifting forest green eyes.

Then she froze. An olive green face was staring back at her, concern evident in his soft brown eyes. The 'man' had a strong, muscled body that looked both athletic and stealthy. The only things that worried Meg was that he had three fingers and two wide toes, a carapace, a yellow plastron and brown wrist bands and a belt. Looking back into the creature's face, she noticed a purple bandanna mask covering his eyes.

"I...I..." Megami stumbled over her words as her eyes stayed locked on the creature's own.

Then, reality set into her mind. She was being held by a freaking turtle!

Screams filled her mouth. Her body twisted and turned as she kicked at the creature. The turtle expertly dodged the desperate attacks; all the while he tried to stop her.

"Calm down! I'm helping you! Stop screaming! Please!"

Megami scrambled backwards, tripping over a lone trash can. She let out a cry as she fell, her back hitting the concrete hard. The creature was immediately by her side again. His arm went around her one more time as he held her.

"Please! Don't scream. I'm going to help you." He said slowly and soothingly, as if he were talking to a child.

Even though she was so dizzy that it prevented her from thinking clearly, Megami felt guilty. She could see that the turtle was hurt. He had bruises on his arms and a bloody gash on his cheek, yet, he chose to help her rather than himself. Meg closed her mouth and allowed him to give her a quick check over.

Eventually, his warm eyes returned to hers, "I think it's safe to say the fight is over." That said the turtle picked her up bridal style. Megami gave a quiet protest, but the arms tightened slightly, "You helped my brothers and me. So let me help you."

Meg couldn't believe how kind and concerned he was being, after she'd given him so much trouble. Saying no more, she put one hand on his shoulder. A smile grew on the turtle's face and with ease; he jumped from the fire escape to the roof.

When they'd reached the roof, the arms around her still didn't loosen. But, she felt them tense. The turtle's mouth opened to say a single word, "Shell..."


	4. Chapter 4

**The New Era of New York**

Teegan ordered her girls to stay put; then rolled off the shelf she was on, landing neatly on her feet. Creeping forward; she peeped out the ice-cream store's broken, dusty window, before moving out. Her worries were proven correct when she saw the heavy, black truck with the Foot symbol on its trailer.

She went closer. Where the hell are they? Teegan thought to herself as she stared at the empty truck. Her eyes darted behind her and in front of her, but she saw no ninjas. Suddenly, realization dawned on her.

The Foot wasn't attacking her girls, they were attacking other survivors. With narrowed cobalt eyes, Teegan looked up at the roof. Sure enough, she could make out the shapes of swiftly moving people. In less than four seconds, she was standing on the roof. What she saw shocked her more than anything else she'd seen in years.

Turtles.

Green skin, round shells, firm plastrons, and... Two toes and three fingers?

She was too fuddled to move, so she stood there, watching as four muscular turtles that wore varying colored masks fought the ninjas that had surrounded them. Only when a sharp yell of pain reached her ears, did Teegan finally snap out of her abnormal daze.

One of the four turtles, the one wearing a red mask, had his right hand clenched to his chest. Sticky, crimson liquid was quickly flowing out from the deep cut on his palm. Teegan shook her head, made her hands into fists and charged at the black clad Foot ninja, yelling out the simple command, "ATTACK NOW!"

Teegan raced forward, dropped to her knees, and skidded between the legs of a ninja who had a katana raised towards the wounded turtle. As she passed between the man's legs, she pulled a steak knife from her belt and stabbed him just a few centimeters away from his manhood.

As predicted, the man fell like an autumn leaf in a cold winter's storm. His hands covered his pained inner thighs as he cried out. Teegan stopped her skidding just short of hitting the wounded turtle. She spun on one heel and faced the ninjas, another two knives in her hands. They weren't her favorite weapons, but they were the sharpest things they could get their hands on.

As Teegan made sure no ninjas got past her, she saw her band of girls quickly scrambling up the building to the roof. Soon, bodies were flying; BB guns were pelting rubber bullets and blurry visions of the smaller, agile girls was everywhere.

Suddenly, a familiar scream took Teegan's attention away. Her eyes caught one glance of a black combat boot falling off the roof. Damnit! Teegan screamed at herself mentally. She took a step forward, but someone else was faster than her. One of the turtles threw himself off the roof. Teegan went to follow but a two katanas swished through the air near her head and she turned to them. Hoping whichever girl had fallen would be alright, Teegan resumed fighting.

Less than ten minutes went by, and the Foot was quickly disappearing. They were either running away, or lying in crumpled heaps on the floor. Teegan breathed deeply, her eyes quickly looked back at the remaining three turtles. She noticed they had stepped away from the group of girls and were now half hidden in the shadows. She could still see the outline of their bodies though, so she knew they were there.

Teegan's eyes skimmed over her girls. Most of them had cocky smirks on their faces, others were cradling scratches and bruises, some were hugging and congratulating each other, and the rest were lying on their backs, breathing deeply as if they wanted to fall asleep.

In her mind, the captain ticked off each of the girls. Only when one girl didn't show, did she raise her voice.

"Meg?" She called. All of the females' eyes turned and looked among themselves for their missing comrade. "Megami? Megami?" Teegan's voice sounded higher as she looked around frantically.

Then her blue eyes stopped on the edge of the roof. A three fingered, green hand took a firm grasp on the edge of the roof and then a body was hoisted up. The turtle that'd jumped off the building was climbing the roof as if it were nothing, in one arm, he held Megami. She looked green herself as she held onto the turtle. As soon as the turtle's feet were on the roof, he looked up; the calm, friendly smile on his face dropped though as he caught sight of over thirty girls ranging from twelve to twenty-three staring at him with open mouths and wide eyes.

"Shell." He muttered nervously.

Then, the women were coming at him with bats and knives. Unable to protect himself and hold the woman in his arms at the same time, he just stood there, readying himself for a good beating. The other turtles leapt over the women and crouched in front of him, a pair of katanas, and nunchucks in their hands, and even the injured turtle held a sai with his one uninjured hand.

Before her girls were able to touch the turtles, Teegan threw herself in front of the turtles and held her hands out. There was the sound of the girls putting their brakes on. They stopped a foot away from running over their captain, but a certain blonde stumbled forward.

Simmy caught Teegan around her waist and the both of them fell backwards. Teegan groaned as her head hit the ground. On top of her, Simmy tried to give an innocent grin that looked more like a smirk, "Sorry, Tee."

Simmy pushed herself off of her friend, deliberately pushing her hands against Teegan's stomach and shoulders. Teegan let out a choked sound and held her middle. She lifted glaring cobalt eyes to the blonde, "I'm going to murder you, Simone Fargo." She breathed out her friend's full name; her stomach was still a little tender from Simmy's weight.

Simmy held out her hand and pulled Teegan to her feet, saying, "What are you doing going in front of a bunch of reptiles? They could be carnivores." Her baby blues looked past her captain and to the four turtles. The purple masked one still held Megami tightly in his arms.

Teegan dusted herself off and glanced over her shoulder at the turtles, "They were being attacked by the Foot. So, I took a chance, and helped them out. Let's just hope," Her eyes flashed dangerously and her voice sounded threatening, "They really are on the good side. I don't fancy eating turtles for the next few weeks."

A turtle with big blue eyes and an orange mask laughed out loud and put his nunchucks away, "Hey, don't worry about us, dudettes! We're on the good side."

"Mikey!" The blue masked one said warningly.

The first turtle whined, "They just saved us from a major shell kicking, Leo. I think it's safe to say we're both on the same side."

Teegan turned to face them. Her cobalt blue eyes went over all four of them, then stopped on the one holding Megami. Calling out to her lost looking friend, Teegan folded her arms, "Meg, you ok there?"

At the sound of her name, Megami looked up and waved to her, "Safe." She said simply. But, she lifted a hand and stroked the tender spot on her head.

Teegan stepped forward, taking note of the gasp as she approached the mutants. The turtles parted for her to move towards the turtle holding her friend. She nodded and gave a slight smile, "Thank you for saving her. We can manage from here." She said firmly. But the turtle wouldn't give in so easily. He smiled down at Teegan, but kept his hold on Meg, "Where do you stay? My brothers and I would be delighted to see you back home."

Teegan scowled and the atmosphere got an icy chill as her face darkened. Several silent moments went by, and then everyone, especially the band of girls, was surprised to see Teegan shrug, "Whatever. Let's get going. There's not enough time for the weapon raid now anyhow. Girls! Pack up and move out. Simmy take the lead, I'll take the rear."

Simmy's pink lips fell open and she scooted closer to Teegan, "What are you doing? You're bringing a bunch of strange, mutated, freaky creature thingy's back to the hotel?" The captain gave a simple nod and murmured a quick reply. Simmy's face lit up like the fourth of July and a sly smile made her lips curl skywards. She jogged to the front of the girls and the blonde jumped off the building, the rest of the girls following suit.

Teegan gestured for the turtles to walk in front of her and, awkwardly, they did. Striding behind the four green creatures, Teegan watched their body movements.

The one holding his bloodied hand had a more bulky build than the other three. His eyes were narrowed and untrusting, showing how much he loathed the idea of going home with a bunch of females. The purple masked one was the smallest. Strapped to his back, was a long stick. Teegan could faintly remember it being called a Bo staff, a weapon of ninjitsu. He carried Megami as if she were as light as a grain of sand. His eyes were gentle and his footsteps soft. The orange masked one looked like the friendliest of them all, as well as the youngest and with a childish air. He skipped in between the girls, flirting, joking and giggling when they did. He looked like the kind of person who enjoyed the good things in life.

Then there was the blue masked one that had a straight posture and an aura of leadership, calmness and discipline about him. He held a pair of sleek, shiny katanas. His eyes darted around the girls, as if expecting them to attack at any surprising moment. Teegan frowned when he saw his fingers tighten on his blades.

"If you think I'd ever let you hurt my girls, you're wrong. You'd be dead before you could even lift those plastic pirate swords of yours." Teegan said in a steely voice.

The turtle was clearly startled; he stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel to look at Teegan, who only gazed back at him. The turtle gave a small half smirk, "Humph. You're confident."

"I could take you down with my eyes closed. And that's a promise." She shot back, still keeping a cold smile on her face.

The blue masked turtle frowned now, "As if you could touch any of us."

"What would you like to bet?" Teegan challenged. Her eyes blazed with new fury. She was beginning to regret not killing them, or at least this one.

"I have enough strength and honor not to drag children into battles." He hissed.

Simmy, the girls, and the three other turtles had moved on by now, leaving Teegan with the turtle.

The blue masked turtle took a deep breath, composing himself, "I apologize. I'm wary of strangers." He watched as Teegan lost the smug look. She looked more serious now.

She stepped forward, shoving her shoulder into him. She didn't say anything as she walked ahead of the turtle. But then she said in a quiet voice, "I was serious when I said I wouldn't let you hurt my team. If I see any signs of it, anything at all," She now looked over her shoulder to lock eyes with him, "I will kill you, and make no mistake about that."

The turtle gave a forced smile, "I wouldn't have it any other way. But as soon as we've gotten you and your little girls to safety, we're leaving."

"We'll just have to wait and see about that."


	5. Chapter 5

**The New Era of New York**

Mikey has his signature goofy grin plastered on his face as he ran in between the long line of girls, "Hey, what's up? Do any of you girls have boyfriends? Where'd you learn to fight like that? You really kick shell!" The girls glanced at him with wide, mischievous eyes, and dissolved into giggles. A few ran next to him, so that they could talk to the orange masked turtle. Mikey gave each of them flirty smiles and goofy grins. Some of the women's cheeks turned rosy and they hurried to run ahead of him. But Michelangelo only grinned and sped up to stay next to the blushing females.

After a few more minutes, he was running next to a blonde haired woman with a compact, lithe, little body. Her thin legs were covered by black tights, but Mikey could see that she had sharp kitchen knives tucked into the material.

He put on his best grin and pretended to take off his hat to the blonde, "Evening, dudette. How are you doing?" Mikey asked laughingly.

The woman's blue eyes glanced at him shrewdly for a brief moment before she looked away, a tiny trace of smile appearing on her face. She picked up speed, still smiling. Mikey pouted and ran faster, "Something wrong?"

The blonde snorted, "Is that what you do whenever you're around girls? You started jumping them with flirts and charms? If Teegan were here, she'd be kicking your shell all the way to the earth's core. Oh, and this is just a little suggestion... Don't flirt with the Captain," Now she smiled at him. Mikey smiled back, but, suddenly he felt a fist hit him in his stomach.

Groaning, Mikey stopped running and leaned against a grimy wall. The woman kept running, but she glanced back and yelled, "Two words. Plastic surgery!" She laughed at him mockingly.

Mikey stared after her as she disappeared around a corner. The line of girls following her was still long, though.

"That's what you get, Mikey!" Mikey looked behind him to see Raph running up, his mouth was wide as he laughed at his baby brother. "I like her style! Now, she's one hot babe!" Raphael stopped next to his brother. Donatello came after him. But, instead of stopping with his brothers, he continued rushing after the rest of the girls, the woman in his arms was starting to look a bit sleepy.

Mikey rubbed his stomach tenderly, saying to his elder brother, "You can have her. She's mean."

Raph chuckled and, after rubbing his injured hand, took off after the girls, following the line of red heads, brunettes, blondes and black haired women. Mikey frowned again, and then hurried after his two brothers. In less than ten minutes, everyone had stopped outside a back door to a rundown hotel building. Most of the windows and entrance doors were boarded up and the outside walls were blackened from a fire that must've happened when the Foot took over. The blonde who'd punched Mikey earlier was in front, unlocking a series of bolts before she swung a door open. She gestured for them to go inside and the turtles followed the girls into the half burnt building.

Mikey found himself walking in darkness for a few seconds before he stumbled through another door that brought him and his brothers into a yellow lit lobby. Instantly, chatter among the girls arose. They laughed and joked with one another as they started going off into different directions. As they went, they undid the armor they wore. Bullet proof vests and helmets were taken off.

Mikey saw Donny and Raph standing in a corner and he went to stand next to them. His blue eyes looked away from his two brothers, to gaze at the woman Donatello was holding. She had fallen asleep with her head against his plastron. On her neck were nasty, red scratches and an almost black bruise. The shirt she wore had two long slices in the middle, revealing two long red lines of dried blood.

Mikey gave a sly smile and pointed his finger at the dark haired woman, "She's cute, isn't she, Don?"

Don's face colored, but he didn't say anything. He didn't have to since Raphael responded for him, "Of course he thinks she's cute, shell for brains!"

Don tried to protest, but his brothers were already laughing at him.

Another voice joined them, "We should be leaving soon. Don, put her down somewhere." Leonardo walked in, a woman following after him. The woman had dark hair and the sharpest blue eyes they'd ever seen. She walked up to Don and held out her arms for her teammate.

"I'll take he-"

"Oh, no you don't, Teegan! You'll just injure both yourself and Meg when you pass out." Mikey cringed when the familiar blonde ran up and pushed the woman called Teegan out of the way. The blonde smiled at the turtles and, before Don could say anything, she took her friend out of his arms and held her easily.

"Sorry, captain. But, you're already tired enough." The blonde stated. "I'll take care of her."


	6. Chapter 6

**The New Era of New York**

Jesse yawned and stretched out her good leg. It had been over two hours and she was bored out of her mind. The red head glanced down at the comic book in her hands. It was the only one she had been able to find since most stores had either been destroyed or burnt down, along with the rest of the city. Five years ago, when her apartment building had been reduced to a mess of rubble and glass, Jesse had lost her entire comic book collection that she kept hidden beneath her bed in carefully packed boxes. The only one she'd been able to save was this one. It had been in her school bag on that day that the Foot had taken over the city. She'd been fourteen at the time. It was during a normal school day that the danger made itself known...

_Jesse stared down at her geography book. She'd been stuck on the same question for more than twenty minutes already. All of a sudden, the school's emergency bell was ringing loudly. Jesse__'s eyes narrowed and she__ scowled, 'Another fire drill?' But, instead of the usual calm and orderly lines of kids, Jesse heard screaming. Looking up from her workbook, she saw the school's headmaster running down the hall, his eyes wide with horror. Jesse's class erupted into laughter as they watched their balding school head flee__,__ a surprisingly shrill scream emitting from his mouth._

_Then the laughter stopped. Jesse felt something heavy and solid smash her in the back of her head. Her brown eyes clamped shut and her head hit her desk with a crack. Sliding to the side and out of her chair, Jesse fell to the floor in a heap, unconscious__._

Jesse had later found out that her school had been invaded by a group called the Foot. They had come in as a large army with machines and weapons. They'd completely destroyed the school. The younger students were either taken or hurt so badly that they were moments away from dying. The Foot had gone to the senior grades and taken back potential recruits for new ninjas. But, Jesse had found this out a good few hours later. When she'd woken up, she found herself in the school's basement with a few other frightened girls.

_"Hey... Can you hear me? Are you hurt?" Jesse opened her eyes slowly and found two faces staring down at her with concern. Both had dark brown hair, but one had green eyes while the other had cobalt blue. The one with blue eyes leaned forward and shook her shoulder roughly, "Wake up! You can sleep later, but we have to leave. NOW!" With that, the green eyed girl grabbed Jesse. She hoisted the red head girl up onto the other's back, "Ok, Teegan. She's on safely." Jesse looked down at the one carrying her, "Y-Your... n-n-name is... Tee-Teegan? Aren't y-you the girl t-t-that beat up a s-senior guy?" The girl looked over her shoulder and gave a half grim, half proud nod, "That's me. And that's Meg. We're gonna get you out of here, ok?" Jesse nodded and put her head down on Teegan's shoulder, weariness catching up to her. She heard a door creak open, and then they were running._

Jesse leaned her head back against her pillow, yawning again. She closed her doe brown eyes and relaxed, but before she fell asleep, she heard the trampling of feet. She was suddenly awake, a grin on her face. They're back already? She thought.

Jesse grabbed her crutches and stood quickly, almost falling over in her hurry. With a beaming face, the red head hopped out the door and through the hallway. With her excitement growing with each step, Jesse eventually threw her crutches to the side and started hopping on one leg as fast as she could.

As she neared the lobby, she started screaming, "Did you guys bring me back a knife? A gun? Did you find a boyfriend for Simmy? Has Teegan found a sense of humor? DID YOU BRING BACK A BUNNY FOR ME?"

Jesse hopped around a corner... and froze. Simmy and Teegan were there, glaring at each other. Normal. There were girls walking around laughing and joking with each other. Normal. Megami was sleeping in Simmy's arms. Not so normal. There were four human sized turtles wearing bandannas and ninja gear. Totally not normal.

"Uh, I asked for a bunny? You know, with the long ears, fluffy bobtail? Not four giant, slimy tortoises." Jesse said, tilting her head to the side cutely.

Now, everyone turned to look at her, including the turtles. The one wearing a purple mask put up a finger and corrected her, "We're turtles, actually." He said knowingly.

Jesse's blue eyes shone now, "Aw! I want a talking tortoise!" She squealed. Jesse saw Teegan rub her temples, and added bleakly, "You need sleep, Teegan."

Teegan let out an annoyed huff and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring, "Not you too."

Jesse shrugged innocently. She turned to the turtles and hopped towards them. Still grinning, Jesse put her face close to the blue masked one. "Can I have this one?"

"Jesse, they're not pets." Teegan walked towards her and pulled the excitable red haired girl away from the four turtles. "And you should be in bed. Do I have to break your other leg for you to understand that?"

"Aw, Teegan, you would never do that to me. You love me too much!" Jesse threw herself at her leader. Teegan caught her easily, and held her like a groom would with his bride.

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" Teegan rolled her eyes, but smiled wanly.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but we should be leaving now." The girls gazed back at the four turtles. The one with the blue mask took a step forward.

Teegan gave a sly smile and bent to put Jesse back on her one good foot, "Oh, but don't you remember, Blue? I said we'd have to see about that." She straightened and looked him in the eye, her own cobalt eyes acquiring a dangerous glint, "And, I'm not sorry to say actually, but I don't trust you to keep our secret. So, girls… GET THEM!"


	7. Chapter 7

**The New Era of New York**

In the cold depths of a kitchen basement, Leonardo was tempted to start slamming his head against the wall in hopes of cracking his cranium. How could he have been so stupid as to follow a bunch of female kidnappers to their hideout? He paced the room he was in, looking for a way out of the dark, cement enclosure. Donatello was staring at the solid ceiling, Michelangelo was drawing pictures in the thick layer of dust that coated the floor and Raphael was punching his fists against the steel door that was the only entrance and exit. Leo clenched his fists as he recalled the simple command that the leader had issued moments before he and his brothers were jumped.

_"GIRLS! GET THEM!"_

After the woman, he found out later that her name was Teegan, had called her girls, they had all come running. They were flying everywhere, taking their weapons and pushing the turtles to the floor. None of the turtles had been able to comprehend what was happening until they were pinned to the ground and stripped of their weapons and gear. Teegan had them put in the kitchen's basement, which consisted of a brick and cement enclosure. There were no windows, no vents and no opening whatsoever; other than the heavy metal fridge door that they'd been pushed through. Even if they managed to break the door down, they probably would have found another team of females waiting for them.

At the top of the stairs by the door, Raphael had ceased his assault and was now holding back pained whines as he clasped his injured hand in the other. Before they'd been jumped, one of the girls had given him a piece of soft, pink satin for his hand and that he'd wrapped around his palm. But he was soon starting to become suspicious about the material. When the other girls had seen it, they had burst out laughing. After getting laughed at for the fourth time, Raph had asked what was so humorous. The answer had been simple.

"That's one of Simmy's old bras!"

And that was it. Raph didn't say anything. He ripped off the material and held his hand to his chest protectively, his eyes threatening anyone who dared say anything to him.

Mikey was sitting in the opposite corner with Donatello beside him, drawing pictures in the dust that had collected on the cold floor. He had whined about being cold at first, but now he was sulking quietly. Donatello had a thoughtful expression on his face. He'd also been mute throughout all this.

It felt like hours had passed. The steel door to the basement creaked slowly as it was pushed open by a pair of small hands. The turtles immediately jumped up from their positions. A slender figure on one leg hopped down onto the top step. She opened her mouth to say something when she found a hand clench around her throat.

"Raph! Let her go!" Leonardo shouted as Hothead's fury caught up with him.

Raph's golden eyes glanced heatedly once at his elder brother, before he threw the small figure down the stairs. The girl let out a pained cry as she fell onto the floor. Her hands went around her leg that she'd been holding up and she started screaming as loud as her lungs allowed her to.

Don took one look at the girl and recognition dawned on his face. It was the red head woman that was on crutches. The purple banded turtle flew forward and dropped next to her, yelling at his elder brother, "Shell! She's got a broken leg, Raph!"

The girl was still screaming, but tears dripped down her face as she clutched at her leg. Leo and Mikey crowded around her, but, suddenly, the light from the basement's entrance was covered by another shadow. Leo looked up and he felt annoyance flare up again. Shell, now you did it, Raph. He thought to himself.

The leader of the females stood in the doorway in a pair of baggy track suit pants and a dark, long sleeved top. Her dark hair was down and still neat, except for a few stray strands that stood up. Her cobalt eyes glowed almost in the dark, narrowed and dangerous, and she leaped at the nearest turtle, which happened to be Raph.

The red masked turtle's uninjured hand caught the girl's foot. He smirked, but it disappeared when he saw that she was smirking as well. With her foot still secured in his hand, she kicked off the ground, twisted in midair and slammed the bare heel of her free foot into the side of his head.

Even though it was a simple attack, Raph was flung right off the stairs and he landed on the floor on his shell, dizzy and groaning. Glancing at Don, who was still attending to the crying woman, Leo stood up and went around his brothers so that he stood in front of them, facing the irate young woman.

Leonardo held up his hands to signal surrender, "Hold on a second! He didn't mean it. My brother's trying to help her," He said as the woman stalked closer. She reminded him of a lithe tiger who was slowly creeping its way towards its next meal. Her eyes glittered and her mouth was downturned. Leo braced himself for the woman's attack, but she walked right past him. Surprised, he turned and watched as she approached her friend. Don backed away, pulling Mikey with him.

The four brothers watched as the leader crouched next to the fallen girl, "Jesse? You alright?"

The girl who was lying on the floor, Jesse, whimpered and nodded her head. She'd stopped crying, but tear tracks were still evident on her red cheeks and she shook while trying to stifle sniffles.

Leo looked up at the basement's door, a handful more girls had come down, all dressed in pajamas and warm night wear. They came down, surrounding their leader protectively, knives and fists at the ready. They waited till Teegan had stood up before looking back at her with one eye, the other on the turtles.

"Take her back to her room and get her looked at. Make sure nothing else is broken. And this time," Teegan took the time to glare sternly at the girls, "Make sure she stays there. Wake up Simmy and tell her to stay with Jesse for the night."

"Yes, captain," Was the quiet murmured reply. Two of the girls picked up Jesse and walked up the stairs carefully, before disappearing out the door. That left Teegan with the turtles.

None of them moved for a few seconds. Then Don spoke up from the sidelines, "She'll have a few bruises, but nothing else is broken from what I've seen. We're very sorry for the trouble we've caused." He said, hoping that this helped them somehow. He'd caught her name a few times, and he was starting to remember it now.

Teegan turned her head, but her eyes were narrowed, "And the four of you say you're the good guys?"

"You're the one who kidnapped us!" Raph growled from the floor, he rubbed the side of his head from where she'd kicked him.

Mikey piped up, trying to ease the tension, "I think it's called turtle-napped actually."

Raph stood up slowly, "Shell, you kick hard." He groaned.

Teegan crossed her arms as she stared at the basement door, "You should be grateful that I didn't try that much, then. I would've broken your jaw if I considered you that much of a threat." She said.

Leo took a step forward, saying, "So, you're just going to keep us in here?"

"You haven't shown me any proof that you are trustworthy." She said bluntly.

"We don't have to prove anything to you, girlie!" Raph retorted.

Teegan smiled slyly and shook her head, sighing mockingly, "Oh, but you have shown me one thing... You," She pointed one slender finger at Raph, "Are a lousy fighter." She smirked as the turtle's jaw visibly tightened.

Raph lurched forward, but before he got anywhere close to her, Leo's and Don's arms restrained him. Mikey glanced at his struggling brothers, and then at Teegan, "Can I have something to eat? I'm dying here."

Teegan raised a dark eyebrow, "You're just like Jesse. Except that you're green."

The orange masked turtle grinned. Closing her eyes and rubbing her temples, Teegan counted for a few seconds. Then she heard it, the turtles were moving stealthily towards the door. Smiling, the dark haired woman thrust her left arm towards the door. From one of her baggy sleeves, one of Leo's katanas shot out and embedded itself in the wall in front of the escaping turtles. They stared in shock at the weapon as Teegan came forward.

"I'm not a ninja or a mercenary. But I fight for my family, and you hurt one of its members." Teegan's slim figure strode to stand in front of the turtles and her fingers closed on the handle of the sword and she pulled the weapon out of the cement with ease, before slipping it back inside her sleeve. "Understand?"

Leo and the others stared at her before answering in a chorus, "Yes."

Teegan turned her back on them and walked up the stairs, saying over her shoulder, "Food will be brought when one of the other girls sees fit."

Mikey called up in a pleading voice, "What if they don't remember us?"

"We're not brutes, abductors, torturers or any other kind of abusers," Teegan looked back when she reached the door, "You're simply our honored guests until we feel we can trust you. We've got enough enemies as it is and I'd hate to think that I'd just let four of them live."

"That's understandable." Leonardo said quickly. He felt the same way about his brothers. Both he and Teegan had the same responsibilities, but her's were more difficult. Instead of three sisters, she had thirty girls to look after.

Leo smiled mentally when Teegan's eyes shifted to his. Maybe this stay wouldn't be so long. He understood why the woman was being so protective. She was an alligator; a mother alligator that would chase off any intruder, ready for the kill.

Teegan gave the four a cold smile, "I don't like this job, but I take it seriously; just warning you, Blue."

Mikey pouted as he looked between the two of them, "... What's her name?"

Teegan promptly turned on her heel and walked out the basement, "Find out yourself." She said and slammed the steel door shut, throwing the turtles into darkness.

When the door closed, everything was silent. Then, finally, Mikey's gleeful voice came out of the shadows, "I've got a nickname..? Awesome!"


	8. Chapter 8

**The New Era of New York**

Thin lines of bright morning sunlight were peeking through holes of a boarded up window when Jesse woke up to a softly snoring Simmy, a fuzzy memory of last night's events, and a throbbing leg. Rubbing her sleep filled brown eyes with her fists, she propped herself up and glanced at her bunk mate. Simmy was sprawled out on her side of the bed; breathing deeply with her mouth open wide, drooling a bit out the corner even. Smothering her giggles, Jesse pushed off her blankets and brought her sore leg close. On careful inspection she saw that dark purple, almost black, bruises covered almost her whole left limb. With a grimace pulling at her lips, the red head stood up off her bed and clasped her crutches that she'd set beside her bed. Readjusting her grasp on them, she hopped forward, out her bedroom, through the hall, and to the place where most of the girls would be at this time. The breakfast hall.

As Jesse went through the passages, she said good morning to the few girls that were on their way to breakfast. With her doe brown eyes twinkling, Jesse followed the others. When they came to the breakfast hall, she saw that almost all the girls were there, save for the few that were sleeping late.

The breakfast hall was a long rectangular room with rich red carpeting, ripped scarlet drapes, and a few intricately designed grand tables. The tables were covered with fresh cloths and plates of food. Breakfast usually consisted of toast and honey, cereal, and tea or powdered milk. When you had so many to look after, food was monitored quite strictly. When the food supply was dwindling, Teegan put guards on duty in the kitchen and inside the breakfast hall. When one of those rare times came around that food was scarce, every girl was measured in a way that decided how much food they needed to stay healthy and fit. No girl was allowed to hoard leftovers from meals and their intake was monitored. But, even if it meant giving up her own small share of food for someone else, Teegan always made sure that her comrades had enough to eat.

Right now, the breakfast hall was bustling with girls who walked around carrying plates, eating with their friends, or sipping drinks. Hopping past them, Jesse found herself saying "hello" more and more. She eventually got to the long bench table that had dishes of food and jugs of milk that was set in the middle of the room. Jesse had been trying to hold a plate and her crutches at the same time when someone came to her rescue.

"Morning, Jesse, did you sleep well?" Teegan weaved herself gracefully through the stream girls and joined her friend at the bench. She picked up two plates and waved one of them to Jesse. "What do you feel like? Cereal or toast?"

Jesse's face spread into a large, pearly white grin, "Choco Pops all the way, Tee."

Smiling softly, Teegan replaced one of the plates with a bowl. She filled it with the chocolate flavored cereal and added some newly made powder milk, before she grabbed two pieces of buttered toast for herself. Carrying both dishes, she led the way to a small, circular table in a secluded corner of the crowded room. Putting the dishes down, she went back for two cups of tea. Because there wasn't a lot of sugar to spare, and she knew Jesse liked her tea sweet, Teegan put her share of sugar into Jesse's teacup.

Jesse waited at the table; she smiled to herself when she saw her captain try to sneak her own sugar into Jesse's cup. Teegan was too giving sometimes, but Jesse wasn't about to complain. There really wasn't anything better than sitting down to a steaming mug of sweet tea. Teegan came back and put the cups down on the table's surface. Sitting down in one of the four seats next to Jesse, she ate slowly, listening to the clink of teacups and utensils.

Jesse shoveled the cereal into her mouth. She looked up at Teegan, her mouth full of chocolaty goodness. "Have those green guys been fed?" She asked, and she cringed when her leg ached at the remembrance of the night's happenings.

Teegan shook her head and swallowed, replying, "I told them last night that they'd only get food if one of the other girls thought to."

Her red head friend's mouth turned down into sad frown, "Aw, shame..." Her face brightened. "Can I feed them? They're so cute! Like cute, little baby tortoises." Teegan lifted an eyebrow, but another gentle smile touched her lips, "They're turtles, Jesse. I suppose we can bring them some food. BUT. Only after breakfast."

After the early meal the two women walked through the breakfast hall to the kitchen. The kitchen had been a mess of soot and broken equipment when they'd first arrived at the hotel five years ago; but with planning and excellent collecting of materials, the girls had managed to transform it into a working kitchen. The only thing that had changed was the basement. It had once been a cellar for vegetables, but since the girls had no need for fresh food that could rot easily, they had converted it into a cell in case of intruders. A modern, metal and steel reinforced door with special locks replaced the broken wood door and the basement had been cleared out of vermin and rotted products. There were no windows or other entrances except for the steel door, so it was a perfect place for prisoners. Approaching the door, Teegan nodded soundlessly at the two girls that stood guard, and the bolted, metal door was pulled open with high creaks.

Jesse squealed excitedly and hopped on her crutches inside. Teegan sighed loudly, massaging her forehead as a headache unexpectedly hit her with full force. Warm liquid trickled from her nose. She brought up a sleeved arm and touched her face gently, pulling her hand away to observe blots of blood. She wiped her nose once more, ridding her face of blood, and turned to the two girls that stood at the cellar door's sides, "Get some food for our guests. They haven't eaten since yesterday, I'm sure they're hungry."

The young women looked uncertainly at their captain and one spoke up, "Are you alright, Captain?"

Teegan nodded and waved them away impatiently, "After you bring back food you can take a break."

The young women grinned and ran off, pleased to get off their guarding shift. Teegan then followed Jesse inside. The woman's brown eyes twinkled as she stood at the top of the stairs. "Captain's been nice enough to give you food! She might even be nice enough to move you up to a better room than this old place." Jesse spoke excitably.

Looking down into the cellar, Captain saw the turtles. They were curled up together in a corner. The orange banded one was curled on his side between the red masked and purple masked ones. His head was lolled to the side and drool was dripping from the corner of his mouth. Blue was lying beside the purple masked turtle, his head was leaning back against the wall, his breathing easy and even. But the tranquility didn't reach his body. While his face was calm, his hands were clenched into fists and his body tense. The turtle with the crimson mask had his mouth wide and loud snores emitted from its dark depths. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his one arm slung around his orange masked brother. The one wearing a purple mask was sleeping quietly next to the orange and blue masked turtles. His strong arms were crossed in front of his chest protectively. He breathed softly as he slept.

But when Jesse's voice screamed down at them, they woke up with a start. The orange masked one let out a loud yell and fell forward, face planting against the dusty floor. The purple one jumped up and smacked his head on a lone pipe that jutted out of the ceiling and he stumbled away. The blue and red turtles leapt to their feet, offensive positions taken immediatly.

When they saw the two girls standing at the top of the stairs, they stepped back. The purple one rubbed his head, groaning.

"What the shell?" The red one yelled irritably up at them.

Jesse continued grinning obliviously at them, "We're bringing you food!" She said loudly, wanting to see them cheer up.

That silenced all groaning and complaints. It almost made them burst out laughing. When the two young girls returned from the breakfast hall, they carried four plates of heaped toast and a jar of butter. Four cups of steaming tea was also brought. The dishes were brought down the stairs and put down on a dirty table that looked like it was about to give out. Jesse hopped down the stairs after the two, with Teegan behind her.

Teegan tucked a few strands of dark hair behind her ear and leaned against the cold wall of the basement. The two girls had left after placing the plates down, leaving Jesse and Teegan with the turtles. The four green skinned brothers stood in their corner, looking unsure.

After the minutes of silence, and Jesse's unhappy, pouting face, Teegan finally sighed in annoyance, "Get you green butts to the plates and eat." She spoke irritably.

They still looked hesitant. Then another voice called down from the top of the cellar.

"You're starving them?" Megami was wearing her pajamas; a pair of soft pants that were too long for her and a large string top that had to be tied at the back to keep itself from falling off of her slim upper body. A pair of worn slippers adorned her feet. Yawning, she rubbed her head and she hissed, "Ow..."

Out the corner of her eye, Teegan saw the purple masked turtle step forward, asking, "How are you feeling, Meg?"

Megami gave him a tiny smile, "Apart from the headache? Fine." She caught her captain's surprised face and gave a short, sheepish giggle. "Um, Donnie saved me." She said pointing at the turtle.

"Donn-"

"Hey! Can I eat now?" All eyes turned to the orange masked turtle.

"Go on, Mikey."

Jesse pouted, "How come you guys know each other's names but I only know Meg?"

"I'm here too." Teegan said dryly. Jesse chuckled and rubbed the back of her head, "Sorry, Tee. But, really, I want to know names."

Donnie gazed around at the other turtles, "Come on, guys. They've been good to us. It's the least we can do." He said, looking expectantly at the turtle with the blue mask.

"I'm Mikey, if you need to know." The turtle was stuffing his face with toast.

"The name's Raphael, just call me Raph. Splinter Junior here, is Leo."

Leo's silver eyes glinted at Raphael, and he snapped, "It's Leonardo, actually."

Teegan couldn't help but roll her own striking cobalt eyes, "Interesting names."

Raph stalked forward, "And what would your names be then, girly?"

"Do you really want to start on the nicknames again, Raphie boy?" Teegan spat out. "That name's so cute. Raphie; like a stray mutt." She added, her smirk showing sharp canines a bit more demonically than before.

Leonardo gave her a cold smile, "Thank you for your hospitality. But I think we have a right to know your names as well."

Teegan opened her mouth to say something, but she never got a chance. Jesse hopped in front of her, rattling names, "I'm Jesse, that's Meg, and this is Captain." She said brightly.

"Captain?" Donny said, confused. "What kind of a name is that?"

Teegan rolled her eyes. "My name is Teegan."

It took a few minutes, but Megami and Jesse finally managed to persuade the turtles to eat breakfast. It was during the time they were eating when Teegan's phone beeped. The dark haired woman slid her phone out of her shirt's breast pocket, flipping it open and talking into it.

"What?" She asked in a businesslike tone. A few seconds passed and she spoke again, "Get everyone away. No retribution or retaliation. Your foremost duty right now is to make sure they all get out of there alive. I'm leaving now."

Jesse looked over her shoulder to her captain. Teegan's face had closed up but worry was plain in her cobalt eyes. Her hands were shaking slightly as they clenched themselves into tight fists and she turned from her friends and the turtles, walking up the stairs. "Captain?" Jesse called softly, knowing not to follow. "What happened?"

"... Nothing," Teegan said stiffly, not looking at her and continuing walking up the stairs, "Look after the turtles. I'm going out for a while."


	9. Chapter 9

**The New Era of New York**

Leo was thoughtful as he bit into a piece of buttered toast. Teegan had left seconds after she'd gotten the phone call, looking like she was trying not to smash her cell phone into teeny bits. After the captain had left there was a painful silence in the basement. Jesse and Megami stood together, whispering between themselves as the turtles dug into their breakfast.

Mikey gulped down the last of his cereal and patted his stomach, "Mmmm, talk about good food! What's for dessert?" He gave a broad, playful grin to the girls. Jesse gave a small, half smile, but Meg wrapped her arms around her shoulders protectively, looking worried.

Finally, Leonardo couldn't stand it anymore. He dropped his toasted bread on his plate and stood up, "Where'd Teegan go to?" He asked them, sounding stern.

Meg looked at him, "I don't know. She's only hurried off like that twice in five years. Once when the Foot was close to headquarters and she led them away, and the other time was when she found out that Jesse had been run over by a car." She replied quietly. Megami's stomach churned painfully as she thought about what might've happened to make her captain react the way she did. Next to her, Jesse propped herself against the wall, holding her broken leg off the ground; she looked uncomfortable.

"Uh, you can have my seat," Donatello stood up from his wooden chair and gestured Jesse to it.

Jesse's face lit up like a firecracker and she moved forward, "Thanks. My leg is hurting a bit more. You're Donatello, right?"

Donny smiled softly and nodded, "I prefer Don." He said, "I'm sure Raph is sorry about your leg. Right, Raphael?" Don looked pointedly at his elder brother, who turned his head away, muttering.

Jesse grinned, "Aw, don't be. I could never be angry at a cute tortoise."

Meg slapped her forehead, "They're turtles, Jesse." She rolled her eyes, but smiled. The atmosphere in the basement lightened a little, everyone was glad to have something to distract them.

Raph crossed his bulky arms over his plastron, complaining loudly, "What now?"

"Well, you haven't tried anything, except that you hurt Jesse…" Meg rubbed her head, looking thoughtful. "Maybe Teegan'll let you go. We have a theory that she either hates one of you or…."

"What?" All four of the turtles snapped their eyes to the dark brunette.

Jesse bounced in her chair excitably, "Or she likes one of you green dudes. But we don't really know, Teegan has never shown an interest in anyone."

Leo took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Where is she then, he asked himself mentally. "Will she be alright by herself?"

The two girls glanced at each other, and then a voice boomed down from the door at the top of the stairs, "How the hell are we supposed to know? She never tells us anything whenever she goes off by herself. We only find out when she comes back, and by then, she's finished the job."

Simmy glared down at the turtles from the top of the stairs. Her blonde hair was ruffled and her eyes sleep filled; she looked like she wanted to go back to bed. Her tiny body was still clad in her pajamas, a pair of pale pink silk boxers and a thin white, string top. Her white shirt was see-through, a red-white-black dotted bra evident underneath the thin fabric.

The blonde tiptoed down the stairs, trying to keep her feet from touching the freezing floor. Her face scrunched up adorably when the coolness went through her warm toes. When she hopped off the last step, Raphael snorted.

Simmy put her hands on her hips, "You want to say something, Sniffer?"

Raph straightened his back and lifted his head, trying to look intimidating against the petite, pale blonde in front of him. It wasn't a hard thing to do, since Raph was at least a head taller than her. "Why would I waste my breath on you, Blondie? You're beneath me." He retorted, crossing his arms.

"Well, well, it looks like green, ugly and stupid has a lot to say." Simmy shot back, her wide blue eyes flashed.

Raph growled and strode toward her, "You've got a big mouth, chick."

Simmy stepped up to him, "How about a little less questions and a little more shut the hell up," She raised her voice. Megami backed away from her and went to stand beside Don, who smiled at her nervously.

"I have never beaten up a girl, but I'm seriously thinking about it." Raphael's chest was rumbling as he suppressed growls. His eyes were narrowed dangerously as he glared daggers at the woman before him.

Simmy took a another step closer, smiling smugly, "Roses are red, violets are blue. God made me pretty, what happened to you."

They were now so close together that they're chests were touching. Well, it was more like Raph's plastron was against Simmy's face. Simmy was over a head shorter than him, but her enraged face and fiery eyes made up for it.

"Nice words for someone so small. Where did you steal them?"

"Are you calling me a thief?" Simmy screeched, her pale face turned red. Raphael bent his back mockingly to loom over her and gave a short chuckle, "It wasn't a question. It was a... a... um..." He rubbed his bald, green head.

Don spoke up from the side lines, "Statement?"

"Yeah, that." Raph smirked.

Simmy jabbed a finger into his plastron, forcing the red banded turtle to stumble back, "You're a-"

Simmy was cut off by Megami slapping her hand over her blonde friend's mouth.

"That's enough. We already have problems without you flirting with the turtle," Meg said in a surprisingly demanding voice.

Simmy and Raph were still standing close to each other, their faces red and their breathing hard. Simmy had to crane her head upward to meet his eyes. "Idiot," She muttered before walking around him, purposefully shoving her shoulder into his arm.

Raphael clenched his teeth together and took a step toward the annoying blonde. A hand on his shoulder stopped him, "Cool it, Raph. We're in enough trouble as it is," Leo spoke calmly to his younger brother.

Raph mumbled curses as he walked away from the girls; going to stand by a wall.

Looking carefully at everyone in the room, Leo sighed, "Look, I know you have to follow your leader's orders but we really need to get home. Our sensei is waiting for us. He's probably worried," He said, his eyes on the three girls who fumbled with their clothes awkwardly.

Simmy shrugged, "It's not our decision. Whatever Tee says, goes."

Jesse laughed, "Yeah. Simmy has a hard time making friends, so she relies on Teegan. We think it's because her bra is always showing." Her face was lit up like a Christmas tree as she made fun of her friend. Simmy narrowed her eyes at the red head.

"So? I don't care who sees my bra! It's just a piece of fabric."

"Ooh... Do you like ones of these tortoise guys?"

"They're turtles, dimwit!" Simmy yelled back, her cheeks reddening.

Megami was silent. She turned her head away and focused her green eyes on a dirty wall of the cellar.

"You ok?" Don's whispering voice broke her thoughts and she glanced back at the turtle abruptly.

"Fine, fine. Just thinking about Teegan."

Donnie gave her a small smile, "Well, nothing really bad has happened yet."

Meg shook her head, "No, you don't get it." She said, "I'm worried about her. Teegan is always pushing herself to protect us. She would rather be tortured herself than let any of us get hurt, even a scratch is unacceptable in her eyes. Many of us have been in situations when we're close to being captured or killed. The only reason we haven't, is because of Teegan. We'd probably all be dead by now if Teegan hadn't..."

Don waited for her to continue and, sure enough, she did, "Captain isn't well. She needs rest. But even when Jesse, Simmy and I try to help her, she just shrugs it off. She doesn't want our help…" Megami's voice trailed off, and it was then that she and Don realized that everyone was listening in to their conversation.

All the joking had sobered, all anger had evaporated. The room was mute.

The silence was broken by running feet. A twelve year old girl with short red hair and a freckled face ran into the cellar. She tripped on the last step and fell onto her hands and knees at the bottom of the stairs. She looked up with wild brown eyes at the group, managing to gasp out, "A-Ambush! The scouts... They had t-t-trackers planted o-on them." The soft, brown eyes turned teary, "Captain's h-hurt." The girl's face crumpled and hot, salty tears streamed down her cheeks.

It felt like almost a minute went by when in reality it was barely two seconds, and then there were cries of panic. Megami ripped herself away from Donatello and took off up the stairs. Simmy followed next, and Jesse stood up and tried to hop as fast as she could after them.

Glancing at his brothers, Leo ran, scooping Jesse up in his arms as he passed and flew up the stairs. Running through the dark kitchen, the turtles had to brake suddenly.

The lobby was crowded with women. There were dozens of eyes filled with concern. Some of the females were helping others that were coming in. Most had bloody cuts and broken bones. But, the main concern of the women was the last girl who stumbled in.

Her familiar dark hair was uneven, evidently hacked at. The one side reached her shoulder and it went shorter to the opposite side. Blood ran down both corners of her mouth, staining her shirt as it dripped down her chin. Crimson ran down her ears and her body was badly scratched and gashed. The front of her shirt was slashed at, showing off a toned stomach and sliced up chest, and her hair was matted with blood on the back of her skull. It wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but it would be beyond painful.

The woman stepped ungracefully into the lobby, holding the wall for support with one hand. Her face was turned to the floor and her eyes were hidden.

"C-Captain!"

Simmy pushed some girls aside roughly and froze at the sight of her friend. Teegan's breathing was ragged and forced. Her chest heaved as she pushed herself to walk without assistance. She raised her head slightly at Simmy's voice. She took a deep breath and answered forcedly, "I'm fine."

She took another step forward, but this one was shaky and unsteady. Teegan leaned her shoulder against the wall, trying to breathe normally. Her legs buckled underneath her and she fell onto her knees. Instantly, hands were on her. But she could barely understand what was happening. Her blurred vision gradually turned to black as pain blocked any logical thinking.

Before she blacked out, Teegan looked up with unfocussed cobalt eyes. She gave an abnormal, dreamy grin and said in a voice that didn't sound like her own, "I think... I hit... my... head..." The smile disappeared and her head lolled forward as she dropped into a dead faint.


	10. Chapter 10

**The New Era of New York**

"Is Teegan going to be alright?" Megami asked as she came to stand beside Donatello.

The purple banded ninja turtle was crouched next to a four poster bed that held the unconscious captain. He looked at her sideways and gave her a smile, "Yeah. My brothers had similar injuries from our own battles and Teegan might act a bit unusual and be forgetful, but she'll be ok. I took a look at the head wound. There's one shell of a bump there and a good deal of blood. Something heavy and blunt hit her, that's for sure. Apart from a few bad bruises and scratches, she should be fine with a lot of rest."

Donnie smiled at the concerned face of his new friend, "Hey, trust me, your leader will be ok."

While Don was assuring Meg, the others stood in the hall outside Teegan's bedroom. Just before the dark haired woman had entered their headquarters and blacked out, Leonardo had thrust the red head girl that was in his arms to Mikey and raced forward to catch her. His hands had touched her shoulders gently, holding her off the ground but not gripping her tight enough to cause her any more pain. He had been the first of many to reach her. He felt like he was suffocating by the amount of bodies that were around him. Putting his arms under Teegan's neck and knees, Leo had lifted her up and easily leapt over the heads of the women. He landed in a crouch, with the bloody woman still in his arms. Donnie had shifted into doctor mode instinctively and he gave quick orders. When none of the girls moved to fulfill them, Simmy had stepped up and started screaming at them. While shouting what Don said, she added a few colorful words of her own which made the girls react a lot faster.

Megami had led the turtles to Teegan's room which was on the fifth floor, where she was set down on her bed and Don started working his medical magic on her. Raphael and Mikey followed, the younger of the two still holding the red head cradled in his arms. Then in came Simmy, she shut her captain's door with a slam and locked it. Whenever a knock was heard on the door, the petite blonde would blow up into such a rage that the immediate retreat of the interrupters was evident by their scampering feet. It was amusing to see such an angelic looking person screeching curses like the devil.

When Don said he had to look at the rest of Teegan's body for serious injuries, he had told everyone to leave the room except Meg, who stayed to help him.

Now, standing outside the door, surrounded by girls ranging in ages between ten and twenty-three, Leonardo was starting to feel irritable. Who the shell could have gotten close enough to Teegan to do that amount of damage? He'd only been in the captain's custody for less than a handful of days, but her fighting was immaculate. She was strong. So why had he been so upset to see her hurt? She had kidnapped them and held them against their will. If anything, he should have been glad.

He'd even been thoughtless enough to throw a girl with a broken leg to his baby brother, only to be agile enough to hold Teegan off the floor. Maybe it was because he felt a sort of kinship towards her? Their duties to their team were similar…

Mentally hitting himself, Leonardo looked around the hallway. Mikey sat on the floor, his shell against the wall. Oblivious to the fact that she was still in his arms, Jesse was slowly dozing off. Next to them the blonde haired, blue eyed woman was arguing quietly with Raphael about the differences between boxing and wrestling. At least they weren't yelling insults like before, that was a good sign.

Closing his eyes, Leo relaxed his body. He was just starting to feel at ease when a loud voice yelled from inside Teegan's bedroom.

"She's coming to!"

The door was swung open and the three turtles and two women hurried inside. Teegan was propped up against three pillows. Don wrapped bandages tightly around her torso and one of her arms was wrapped in bandages from the shoulder to the elbow. A few plasters and gauze squares covered a few of the deeper cuts on her body, and a thick bandage had been wrapped around her forehead to cover the wound on the back of her head.

When everyone walked in, they found Teegan blinking confusedly around at her surroundings. Her un-bandaged arm was tugging at the longer side of her hair, which was still uneven. Her mouth was turned down into a scowl as she pulled harder at the handful of hair. Her hand was slapped away gently by Megami.

"Don't do that, Teegan. You hit your head on so-"

"My hair is skew..." Teegan murmured, lifting her hand to tug, more softly, at the side of her hair that was longer.

"If you give us back our weapons. Leo and I can slice it if you want," Raph came forward. He still sounded annoyed, but his amber eyes were more easygoing. Teegan frowned at him, repeatedly tugging at her unevenly hacked hair. Before she'd left, her hair had been a glossy, dark chocolate brown that reached just after her shoulder blades. Now the one side of it was cut to reach her chin.

Taking a deep breath and letting her hand rest on her wrapped stomach, Teegan gave a weak smirk, "You can cut my hair if I can cut yours, turtle."

Raph frowned and tried to think through this, "I don't have hair," He concluded dumbly.

"Exactly. So, what's left that I can cut?" Teegan said in a voice that you'd speak to a little child in.

Puzzling over her question for a few moments, Raph suddenly looked up, "Shell no! You ain't chopping my head off!"

Megami turned to glare at her captain, who had a subtle smile on her pale lips, "What happened?" She asked. Everyone looked at the two women. The smile on Teegan's face disappeared, "It was an ambush." She said simply, clearly not wanting to say anymore.

Teegan's deep blue eyes went downward. Simmy stepped forward, her eyes hard, "How many did we lose?"

"...None. Every one of the girls got away."

Simmy scoffed loudly, "More like YOU got THEM away. They're a bunch of bloody idiots!"

"Simmy," Teegan started, but the furious, little blonde was on a roll.

"No, Teegan! When are you going to get it? You can't save everyone without getting yourself killed," Simmy stamped her foot on the ground, her cheeks turning red. "If those girls have their heads in their butts all the time it's not your fault if they get hurt!"

"I have to look after them, Simmy," Teegan was now pulling herself off the bed. Don put out a hand to stop her, but Teegan slapped it away, still arguing with Simmy. "I'm probably the worst choice for a leader. I've even told you guys that many times, but you say that I'm the best we have. Then you always question me when I do something that a leader should do!" Teegan was standing, but she swayed unsteadily.

She fell back a step, before straightening her back and looked down at Simmy with a grim face, "Everyone's alive at least. I made sure of that."

"What was the price? You were..." Simmy snapped her neck to glare at Don, "She was half dead, right?" Teegan's glaring cobalt eyes turned on Donatello.

"Uh, close." Donnie said nervously as the women started on him now. Finally, Meg stood in front of him, "SHUT IT! Teegan! Sit down before you fall down. Simmy! Leave Teegan alone or get out."

Simmy and Teegan glared at the green eyed woman. After a few moments of silence, Simmy snorted, sauntered forward, grabbed Teegan's throat in one hand and pushed her back onto the bed. Teegan landed on her back and suppressed a hiss of pain. It wasn't a usual action that Simmy did, and everyone was surprised by how demanding it was.

From Mikey's arms, Jesse saw the flash of pain go through her captain's face and pointed accusingly at Simmy, "Meg! Simmy hurt Tee!" She tattled in a shrill voice.

Simmy stuck her tongue out at Jesse, but then shrunk back when Megami moved threateningly towards her. The blonde gave a sheepish smile and backed away, accidently backing into Raph's plastron. As Meg came closer, she started pleading, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Satisfied, Meg went back to where Teegan was lying. The captain was trying to pull herself up again. When she couldn't, Don and Leo came forward and put their hands on her shoulders, carefully helping to put her in a more comfortable position.

Teegan frowned, but allowed them, muttering to herself, "I can't believe this…

Donnie hadn't heard her, but before Leo walked back to the place he'd been standing, he whispered, "You may be the captain, but you are allowed to ask for help, you know."

Staring after him, Teegan raised an elegant, dark brown eyebrow. He didn't say anything more. The others spoke for a while, before Don hinted that Teegan might want to rest. The turtles followed the women out the door, leaving Teegan to her beloved solitude.

It was only a few minutes later, that Teegan forced herself to stand up. Holding the walls for support, she moved slowly towards the door. She opened it as noiselessly as a ninja would, and had just taken a step out when the voice of one of her 'guests' spoke up.

"You should be resting."


	11. Chapter 11

**The New Era of New York**

Leonardo couldn't help but smirk when he saw her visibly jump. Teegan's neck snapped quickly to glare at him "What are you doing here?" She demanded.

Still smirking, Leo pushed off the wall and walked closer to her. He was really going to enjoy this, "Megami gave me the duty of making sure you don't try to sneak away." He said with superiority in his voice. He obviously saw that it annoyed her beyond anything else.

Teegan growled angrily, "I don't need someone babysitting me. So... Get the hell out of my room!"

"And you expect me to just do as you say?"

Teegan straightened her back proudly, "Fine, get out of my headquarters then." She almost snarled.

Leo lifted an eye ridge, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that you turtles are free to go! Now, LEAVE, unless you're waiting for me to change my mind."

The blue masked turtle said nothing, but stared back at the furious, dark haired woman with an unflinching gaze. His misty grey eyes didn't even blink as he looked at her. Through his watchful gaze, Leo saw that the woman was favoring her left leg, which was wrapped in bandages. Her wounded arm was trembling slightly, from fear or from pain, he didn't know. It was probably the latter though. Teegan was biting her lip, probably enraged at the thought that her friend had given her a babysitter.

Leonardo didn't move. Teegan seemed unsure now. Why isn't he leaving with his brothers, she thought to herself.

By now, her anger was boiling over, "What's wrong with you? Are you daft or something? Get out of my sight! Now!" The captain felt like stamping her foot just as Simmy had done earlier but the childish act didn't occur.

Leo kept his calm gaze on her, unknowingly taking note of every small detail of her face. When she was angry, her cobalt blue eyes glittered fiercely, looking deadly and calm at the same time. Her thin, dark eyebrows knitted together and she stuck her chin out like a child who'd been scolded. Her lightly tanned complexion had freckles that could barely be seen; even by someone who was just a couple feet away.

Now, Leonardo turned his eyes to her hacked hair and a chuckle escaped him.

Her anger evaporated, replaced with outright confusion. She blinked at him, "What?" Then it dawned on her and the dark feelings returned, "Stupid turtle." She muttered mostly to herself.

Teegan made a move to shove past him, but strong, green arms on her shoulders stopped her. Glaringly, she saw that the turtle had put his hands on her back, preventing her from moving.

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere."

Teegan gave a short, sarcastic laugh, "What are you going to do? Sit on me? Chain me to my own bed? That's really kinky, turtle!" She burst into mocking laughter, but it was stopped by a pained groan that emitted from her lips. Falling back a little, her hand went to her chest, which was wrapped in bandages. Before she could hurt herself further, Leo put an arm around her back and carefully steered her back to her bed.

Putting her down against the pillows, Leonardo gently pried her hands away from her torso. On the edge of the bottom of her bandages, he saw a bruise that was almost black.

"Shell, did you get hit with a rock or something?" Leo asked as he unwrapped the bottom of her bandages.

"Close," Teegan tried to put a hand on her stomach to stop his investigation, but the turtle caught it quickly and held it to her side, listening to her voice as she continued, "His fist was as big as a boulder. He managed two hits on me; he was lucky."

Leo didn't touch the bandages that covered her breasts, but his eyes wandered over her bare stomach. It wasn't bleeding openly, but the dark bruise he'd seen covered most of her chest, from her naval to above her bust.

Her skin had a thin sheen of sweat covering it. Leo frowned. She must be in more pain than the rest of them thought. She's in agony more like it. "Where is it worse?" He asked.

Teegan shrugged from her place on the bed, "I don't know. Most of it feels numb to me." She said, before she hissed, "Ow."

Re-wrapping the white bandaging around her torso, Leo straightened and looked at her, "Look, I'm not asking you to sleep or take medicine or even stay in bed. All I want is for you to take it easy for a few hours." He said softly.

Her eyes glared at him and he met hers with a serious gaze. Finally, Teegan took a deep breath and looked away, "Fine. But, I'm serious." Now she was glaring at him again. "You and the others can leave. You've caused enough trouble."

Out of nowhere, two different laughs sounded from the doorway. Michelangelo stood on the threshold, his arms around a giggling Jesse whose cheeks were pink from laughter. The two glanced at each other then erupted into outright chortles again.

"You two are too cute!" Jesse squealed, clapping her hands. Mikey made kissing noises, but let out a yell when his eldest brother suddenly charged at him.

Still holding the red head in his arms, Mikey took off down the hall, screaming shrilly like a young girl with Jesse groaning as she was jostled by the hurried running. At the end of the hall, the youngest turtle stopped and gave a comical hop before disappearing around the corner.

Leo stood outside Teegan's bedroom and scowled darkly after his baby brother. Now was SO not the time for Mikey's jokes. Looking back at the captain, he saw that she was trying to slip out of her bed again. When she felt eyes on her, Teegan looked up, a frown already in place.

"You're going to stand here all day, aren't you?"

Leo sighed heavily, feeling weary already, "Pretty much."

The two groaned in unison.


	12. Chapter 12

**The New Era of New York**

From the lobby, rowdy cheering could be heard as women screamed and pumped their fists into the air strongly. Their lively eyes were set on the two bodies wrestling on the floor. One was green with a bulky build, and a red bandanna covering blazing amber eyes. The other was a tiny, squirming body with fair skin and white blonde hair. Sky blue eyes were sparkling with a sense of victory that had not yet been achieved.

"SIMMY! SIMMY! SIMMY!" A chorus of voices cheered on for their female team mate.

Simmy's opponent grunted and snarled as he tried to pin the wriggling body to the floor.

"WHAT THE SHELLS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?" Raphael bellowed at the women. His breathing was hard and his body hot and sweaty as he fought with the short, lithe girl. He was on his side with Simmy on top of him, straddling his legs. The blonde was grinning brightly as she almost succeeded in holding him down.

Laughing mockingly, Simmy dodged Raph's arm and hopped away nimbly. The raging turtle was on his feet instantly; his eyes never leaving hers. Raising a fist, Raphael stepped forward, ready to come into contact with the girl. Simmy let out a wicked giggle and danced behind him.

"You're so slow, Raphie boy!" She taunted.

Suddenly, a light bulb lit up in her head. Thinking quickly, Simmy slipped behind Raph and jumped. Right onto his shell. Wrapping her flexible legs tightly around his shell and sliding her arms around his neck, Simmy held on tightly as Raph bucked at the sudden attack.

Raph spun around, eyes wide, "What are you doing? Get off of me! Little twerp!"

Raph tried to pry the leech off his back, pulling, scratching, smashing his back into the wall and even hitting his head against hers. But the little woman latched onto him even more.

Eventually, the hothead growled and slammed his shell backwards into the wall. The limbs around him slid off with a groan coming from their owner as he stepped away from the wall. Smirking with satisfaction, Raph turned to see Simmy on her rear, rubbing her back. "Ready to _lose_?" His voice was smug.

Simmy chuckled as she stood up, brushing her pants off, "Wow! You're dumber than I thought." Raising her fists again, she leapt forward. Her wrists were caught in a tight hold, and she was lifted off the floor. Letting out an annoyed groan, Simmy lifted baby blue eyes to look pouting at Raphael.

"Hey! No fair! This is discrimination against midgets!" The blonde moaned as she kicked out her legs.

Raph chuckled, leaning his face close to hers, "What's wrong, babe? I thought we were wrestling, not hanging out."

Baring her teeth angrily, Simmy gave a single order. An order that sounded strangely similar to Teegan's, "GIRLS!"

All at once, the female spectators were jumping at him. Raph let out a cry as he was shoved and pushed. Soft fists hit him and dainty shoe adorned feet kicked at his knees. In a matter of seconds, Raph was staring up into superior blue eyes.

"Cheat," Raph glowered at the woman who sat on his plastron. Her legs securely around his chest, her knees digging sharply into his sides. Her mouth was open into a grin that mocked him to no end. Simmy's hair was a mess from the wrestling, her soft, white hands pressed against his shoulders.

Tearing his amber eyes from her fiery blue ones, Raph saw what had happened... again.

It was the same thing that Teegan had done to prevent the turtles from leaving. That one command. Just that one, and there were girls rushing at him. His arms were out-stretched and held down. His legs spread eagle style with women latching onto them.

Looking back at Simmy, he saw that she had an eyebrow raised at him. Talking softly, she said, "I'd have thought you'd be angrier... Or frustrated. Or something." She looked disappointed.

Giving a smirk, Raph tried to sit up. The hands holding his limbs retracted, but Simmy didn't move. As Raph straightened his back, his legs still open, Simmy fell in between his legs, her own limbs still around his waist. Her eyes were narrowed and a girlish pout on her pretty pink lips.

Feeling his face warm, Raph was glad that he had dark green skin to hide the blush, "Whatever. Now, get off of me." He shoved her lightly.

Frowning even more, Simmy tightened her knees around his muscular body, "No." She said simply.

Now he was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Shell! Why wouldn't she just get off him? Deciding to try it one more time, Raph said firmly, "Off."

The reply was an outright, "No."

"Get off."

"No."

"Off!"

"No!"

"Off!"

"NO!"

Raph glared daggers at the little woman straddling him. Simmy seemed unfazed, but her legs tightened. It was really starting to hurt now! Her boney knees dug into his side painfully, but he didn't mind the fact that her soft thighs were pressed against him. Apart from some awkwardness, it wasn't too bad. It wasn't until some quiet whisperings and short giggles, that they turned their glares away from each other to scowl at the women who had been watching them silently until now.

"Getting a little close to the enemy, don't you think, Simmy?" A tall brunette stifled her giggles behind her hand.

Simmy frowned at her and looked back at Raph, who returned to glaring at her.

Then Megami's voice joined in, "I have to agree, Simmy. Off of the turtle. I'm sure none of us want to see a rated E reality show unfold right in front of us." The willowy woman was smiling at the two. Standing beside her was Donatello, he had grown nervous around the women that looked like they were about to attack him with questions at any second. Ever since they had learned that he was a doctor and tech-geek, they had taken advantage of his staying at their hideout. Lights were being replaced; television sets fixed, bathrooms put into working condition. Everything possible. Jesse had even considered asking the genius to fix up a coffee machine. Meg had quickly intervened, saying that the red head was hyper enough as it was without adding coffee to her diet. Since then, Meg had suggested that she stay close with Don.

Donnie had quickly latched onto his new friend. She gave him a tour of the place and had even shown him and his brothers to rooms that they could stay in until Teegan allowed them to leave. Megami had also taken a liking to the purple masked turtle. He was sweet. He spoke to her casually. When she couldn't understand what he was saying, he broke it into simpler bits. He didn't seem annoyed or fazed whenever she asked a question, if anything, he enjoyed it.

Slowly, but surely, everyone was starting to feel glad that Teegan had helped these four mysterious reptiles. They were cool dudes after all.


	13. Chapter 13

**The New Era of New York**

Leonardo let out a loud sigh of frustration when he heard Teegan shifting on her bed. The injured woman lifted her head and glared spitefully at him, before flashing him a rude gesture.

Chuckling in sarcastic amusement, Leo crossed his arms, "Are you always this friendly?" He asked.

Teegan gave an elegant, ladylike smile, "Of course not. You're special," She replied without missing a beat. Taking her attention off the blue banded turtle, Teegan tried to roll onto her side. Failing miserably, she let out a short hiss of pain that she quickly bit back. Frowning, Leonardo stepped forward, arms outstretched to help her, but Teegan's defensive snap stopped him, "Don't!"

Letting his arms drop to his sides, he watched as the captain propped herself onto her elbows. Pushing her upper body off the bed slowly, Teegan pulled herself further up the bed and against the pillows. By now her face was contorted as sharp jolts of pain shot through the many bruises and injuries.

"I could have helped you, you know," Leo said, slightly upset at seeing her in the condition she was.

Leaning against the cushions, Teegan regarded him almost tiredly, "I don't need your help," She said in a sulky voice that almost made Leo burst out laughing. Almost. The only reason he wasn't laughing at her, was that he wanted to be of assistance to her. Even after all she and her comrades had done, he still wanted to help them.

Teegan's cobalt eyes caught his own and she grimaced, surprisingly, "Why are you staring at me? Honestly, Blue. Anyone would think you're a perverted stalker..."

"I-I... I am not!" Leo felt his face heat up at the sudden blush. From her position on her bed, the woman caught the stutter and she tried to stifle her laughter. But before she knew it, she was laughing so much that her whole body was shaking. "Sure you're not, Blue. Keep telling yourself that and, maybe someday, I'll believe it."

The blue clad leader was shocked when he felt a small smile curl on his own lips. She was a lot nicer, as well as prettier, when she laughed. Teegan stopped and gazed at him with a dark eyebrow lifted. "Get me a pair of scissors, will you?" She asked, her eyes left his and she focused her attention onto her hair for the sixth time that evening.

"Why would I do that?" Leo asked, putting his hands on his hips. Teegan looked up at him, "I want to cut my hair. I'm not going to go around with my hair being asymmetrical."

"Well, in the state you're in, you're not going anywhere for a long time."

Teegan gave him a chilling smile, "Spare me the details. By tomorrow I'll be fine; a little sore in the head, but perfectly fine."

"Sure you are. Fine," Leo repeated her words. Teegan's blue eyes narrowed, "Shut it."

Just as she said that, the bedroom door squeaked open. Megami stepped in with a grin on her face. Walking behind her, Donatello followed. They were both smiling and talking about a wrestling match. "Hey, Captain. Simmy was practically having sexual encounter with the red turtle in the lobby. Legs and all," Meg said, laughing. Donnie joined her and absently put his arm around her shoulders. Teegan's face scowled,

"What do you mean? What did Simmy do?

Meg was oblivious to the seriousness in her leader's voice. She gave a nod to the purple and blue masked turtles; they left quickly. Sitting on the bottom of her friend's bed, Meg gave the closed door a final smile, before looking back at Teegan.

"Something wrong? Do you feel pain anywhere else?" She asked.

Ignoring the questions, Teegan started on her own, "What's going on with the other turtles?" She asked.

Meg shrugged, her long, dark brown hair falling over her shoulders, "The girls have taken a liking to all four of them. Don has been fixing some of our stuff and Michelangelo has been keeping Jesse busy," Turning sober, she added, "I think we're all glad that you decided to help them. I mean, since you and Leo are getting along so well." Megami gave her a gentle poke to the back of her head which made Teegan cringe.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come on, Teegan. These guys are the best thing that's happened to us," Megami stood up and moved her hands up and down, trying to emphasize her point. "Raph has Simmy burning off steam most of the day. Mikey and Jesse are probably best friends by now. Donnie is repairing things that have been broken for almost three years!"

Meg watched her captain's reaction. But, the younger woman's face remained emotionless. Trying to get an answer, Megami pressed further, "They're really helping us, Teegan."

"And when they leave? What then?" Teegan asked her as if she were talking to a sibling. Her cobalt eyes were narrowed thoughtfully, but her mouth was a grim line.

"I... I don't know. Maybe... M-Maybe they can visit sometime. We can team up with them and fight. Together. You'll be the captain of two parties." Meg said enthusiastically, as if that was all that she needed.

"No. I won't be responsible for more people. We can't rely on others."

"It won't be any different, Teegan. Just try it... Hey! Don't get up! YOU'RE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF!" Megami started screaming as Teegan forced her weary body off the bed. She'd had enough bed rest to last her for a few weeks, Teegan reasoned with herself. But anger slowly bubbled through her now. She didn't want to be responsible for anymore lives. Or anymore deaths.

Meg put her hands on her captain's small shoulders and tried to push her back onto the bed, but Teegan caught her wrists in one deft movement and shoved them away, her eyes glinting in a barely concealed wave of rage.

"I won't take any more people," Teegan said, finality seeping out her words.

"You can't just say no!" Megami raised her voice, vexed at the quick conclusion to her suggestion. "What if the others want them to stay?"

The two women were still arguing heatedly when the door creaked open and eight or so heads peered in. Four were bald and green, the others blonde and dark haired.

Teegan saw their growing audience and, completely putting all her wounds and pain aside, she stalked past her furious friend.

"You're our leader!" Meg's usually soft, green eyes were also glittering dangerously as she shouted after her.

That was it. Spinning on her heel, Teegan yelled back, "I NEVER ASKED TO BE THE BLOODY LEADER! You were too were scared to step up to the job. The only reason I did was so that you wouldn't!" Just as quickly as that was said, she was leaving.

"Well isn't that perfect!" Meg spat after her. "You're leaving? You're running away?"

Teegan froze in front of the door, her fists shook and blood dribbled between her fingers from where her nails had stabbed the skin of her palm. She was furious, but she was trying to keep it in check, "The only thing I'm here for is to make sure none of you gets hurt."

Taken by surprise, there was silence as Teegan swung the door open and five bodies fell into the room. Glaring at each of them, Teegan stepped over them and stormed down the hallway. She disappeared almost instantaneously, but in that single moment that he saw her, Leonardo could swear she looked like she was trying not to turn around and attack Megami.


	14. Chapter 14

**The New Era of New York**

Lying squashed between Michelangelo and Raphael, Simmy raised her head a little and stared after the quickly retreating Teegan as she stormed down the dark hallway and out of sight. This most certainly wasn't like their captain; to just walk away from an argument. Putting aside the fact that there was any argument in the first place…

The blonde looked back into the bedroom and whistled long and shrill, "What did you do to tick off Teegan?" She asked, trying to look innocent from her position beneath the four turtles and Jesse.

Megami glared deathly at her, and then made a move to step over them and go after their leader. "Like you don't already know," The angry brunette pulled her long legs over their heaped bodies and turned down the passage. Before she could continue, however, a cool hand caught her wrist.

Whipping around to snap at them, she was silenced by Leonardo shaking his head gently.

"I'll see if she's alright. It'd be better if I went than you," He said grimly.

Meg opened her mouth to retort, but another hand found hers and she looked down at Donnie. The purple banded turtle was still struggling to get out of the tangled ball of bodies, but his three fingers never once released her own.

He gave her an encouraging smile, "Teegan will be alright. Leo's had enough practice with Raphael's tempers to know what to do," He said, his warm eyes brightening when she smiled weakly back.

"Ok. But... give her a headache, please?" Megami said softly. She gazed back at Leo's confused face.

"Why?"

"Teegan loathes headaches. She gets migraines frequently. No one knows why, though."

Leonardo shook his head, but grinned anyway, before he turned and hurried down the hallway that the shorter, dark brown haired woman had gone.

As Leo left, everyone had eventually untangled themselves. Simmy was strewn across Raphael's strong shoulders and when the Hothead had stood up, he was surprised to see the angelic looking blonde go with him. Glancing over her shoulder, Simmy kicked Raph in the jaw, "GET THE PERVERTED TURTLE AWAY FROM ME."

Raphael growled in annoyance and grabbed her leg and pulled her off, harshly. She let out a small yelp as she was ungraciously dropped onto the floor, but said nothing else.

Jesse was leaning against Mikey, holding her bad leg off the ground. Both looked sheepish at having been caught eavesdropping. Donnie still hadn't let go of Meg's hand, though it looked more like Megami wasn't letting go of his. The lanky young woman still looked peeved but she refrained from saying so. Her forest green eyes were trained on the floor and she shuffled her feet irritably.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes as they got their bearings, but the silence was broken by Megami looking up and mumbling, "Sorry, girls. Maybe I am acting a little differently

Simmy shrugged, "Hey, everyone acts different when it's that time of the month."

"What?!"

Megami's face couldn't have gone redder. She hastily glanced sideways at Donatello who was looking at her in puzzlement, then down at their clasped hands. She detached their fingers quickly and scowled darkly at the blonde. "It's not _that_, Simone," Meg growled out.

Jesse leaned up to Michelangelo's ear and whispered something. It seemed she was explaining Simmy's mocking. Everyone watched as the orange banded turtle's face fell into one of horror as he realized what 'that time of the month meant'. Jesse glanced sideways at Simmy, and suddenly the two were laughing.

Rolling her eyes, Megami crossed her arms, "Don't think about it too much Mikey. It can't happen to males."

Jesse plopped down onto the floor, hitting her head against the floor as she fell into peals of giggling, oblivious that Mikey looked traumatized. Noticing that the orange masked turtle wasn't laughing with her, Jesse raised her head and looked at him with big, innocent eyes.

...

...

Then she broke down again, holding Simmy for support as she struggled to breathe and laugh at the same time.

Draping herself over his arms, Jesse grabbed his face and spoke in a childish voice, "Aww, it doesn't hurt so much."

Simmy and Jesse were practically howling now with everyone else staring at them as if they were crazy. Raphael grunted, "Lame brains."

Jesse heard him and her laughter ceased. Lifting her head at him, the red head made her baby blues look even wider and teary. Her bottom lip wobbled, threatening to break into full out sobs, and Raph found he was feeling guilty for what he'd said. Growling, he turned and stomped off in the other direction; afraid that he'd be apologizing to the girl in minutes if he stayed.

Simmy watched him leave for a few seconds before she turned to her crying friend. The blonde grinned and held her hand out for a high-five, "Awesome job, Jesse. Just try to make him cry as well next time."

The crying expression left Jesse's face abruptly and she smiled prettily at Donatello and Michelangelo who were both gazing at her in amazement.

"Sure thing, Simmy. But you hafta pay me for it."

"A week's worth of sugar sachets."

The two young women shook hands formally.

Leaning close to Megami, Don asked, "Are they always like this?"

"Yeah," She answered back, smiling fondly, "Usually they pay each other in chocolate bars or bubble gum, though. My little girls are growing up; from chocolate and gum to sugar and beating up the little boys," Megami said in a mock dreamy voice.

Don stepped away from her and gave a nervous chuckle, "I'll never understand women."

"Don't even try to. You'll just end up more confused than ever." Meg said in a morbid tone.


	15. Chapter 15

**The New Era of New York**

Leo made his way down the hall, his eyes skimming over every room he passed. No sign of Teegan yet. He was starting to worry; no one with her injuries should be walking around. Passing a few dozen more doors, he finally saw one that was half open. Pushing it wider, it opened up into a tiny, dark storage room that had a wide hole gaping in the ceiling.

"What the shell," Leonardo let his eyes adjust to the darkness before he jumped to one side and launched himself through the shadowy hole. He landed on an old, dusty carpet that must've been a rich golden caramel colour when it was clean. A cloud of dust exploded at his unexpected contact. Standing up, he looked around at the four dirty walls of his new surroundings.

The yellowish wallpaper that had once adorned the walls had faint images of dancing teddy bears. Olden portraits of families with many children hung crookedly on the wall; most of them were torn and ripped from decay. On the far side there was a large bay window that was covered with filthy curtains and its plush cushion had a deep gash in it, spilling its insides out onto the floor. Standing in front of the window was a scarlet clad seat with a stuffed toy sitting on it. Narrowing his eyes, Leonardo stepped in a circle to examine the entire room. His sharp senses caught sight of many suspicious details most people would have missed.

His silver eyes travelled over the bronze carpet. There were splotches of red on the flooring and on closer inspection he recognised blood; but it was dried up and had a thin layer of dust on it already. So, it must have been there for a few days at the very least. His gaze returned to the chair and its unmoving occupant. The teddy bear's mouth had been crudely sewn shut with black thread and, picking it up carefully, Leo could see that stitches went up alongside its back.

Leo was just about to put the bear back and return to the others when he sensed another presence. It felt strong, but in pain at the same time. Then it disappeared, suddenly appearing right behind his shell. Whipping around quickly, the blue masked turtle found himself staring directly into the face of the captain.

Her lips were drawn into a tight line, standing there with her arms crossed over her bandaged chest.

Regaining some of his composure, Leo couldn't help but ask, "How did you?"

Teegan stalked past him, snatching the teddy bear, and going to the chair. Sitting down with one leg crossed over the other, she replied, "I know this building well. My family used to come here when we weren't in the school term," Her deep blue eyes watched as the turtle stared around the room.

There was no place for her hide here, how could he have missed her. His gaze turned downwards again and he caught the red splatter of blood on the carpet, "What happened here? What is this place?" More questions jumped into his mind, but these ones caused him the most worry at the moment.

"Back in its day, it was going to be made into a nursery for young children whose parents came to this hotel that needed tending to, but because of the attack on the city, it never got completed. There used to be a set of stairs in that closet you came up in. I removed them when the first bunches of girls were brought here. When we came here I claimed this room for myself for personal reasons," Came an icy reply.

Leo had a feeling of coldness slam into his chest; he didn't know where it came from.

"What do you do here?"

Teegan raised a dark, elegant eyebrow, "Why would I tell you?"

"Well, since we're on the same side, I guessed—"

"Get out."

Leo stopped, closed his mouth and looked at her squarely. She stared back unflinchingly. It was disconcerting to see someone with such ferocity in their eyes. It was quiet until Leonardo broke it, "What happened to you that you can't trust us?"

Teegan glared at him with a more animalistic quality, "Get out." She hissed out between clenched teeth.

"No. All your friends are worried about you and you're pushing them away. I want to know why."

"It has nothing to do with you," The captain leaned back in the chair, looking similar to a sulky child now.

The turtle took a deep breath, and then sat down lotus style on the floor, facing the young woman. "I'm not leaving."

For several minutes they sat like that, glaring death at each other, mentally willing the other to keel over and die. Finally, Teegan let out an exasperated sigh and slid out the chair onto the floor with the stuffed teddy bear toy on her lap, "What's your problem?" She wondered aloud to herself.

Leo rolled his eyes, saying, "Look, I know we're not the best of friends. But you helped my brothers and me out of a lot of trouble and we're grateful for it. Let us help your girls. We can work together and take back the New York."

"Have you any idea how many trained warriors they've got? It'd be impossible for a team of a mere forty members to take down a fortress of their standards and technology."

Leonardo rubbed his eyes wearily, she was right, of course. Did this mean that New York was lost entirely? It'd been five years since they'd last contacted April or Casey. The Hamato clan had assumed they were dead, killed by Karai's soldiers. Maybe they were; maybe they weren't. There was also some other friends they could try arrange a meet with, if they hadn't been murdered.

Looking up, Leo blurted out, "What if we had more help? We could leave the city, regroup and come back."

"I've already considered that. But I seriously doubt it'd work. No matter how strong your friends are, it wouldn't help. I know... people. Very powerful people, but even with their help we would lose the battle." She seemed hesitant to talk about her 'people'.

Teegan made a move to stand up, but she was failing miserably when her face contorted into an expression of severe pain. Leo quickly got up and grabbed her uninjured arm to haul her to her feet.

For a second, deep surprise flitted across her face, and then the usual furious composure returned. Her cobalt eyes narrowed dangerously and she pressed her hands onto his plastron. Shoving him away, Leo let out a gasp as he fell onto his shell and rolled a little. His legs and arms flailed around, his eyes wide with shock.

Then he stopped. Lifting his head to peer up at Teegan, he saw that she was standing with her back straight and proud, like that of a majestic cliff face that never fell to the wind that whipped around it.

Not bothering to look at him, Teegan growled out, "I'm giving you a fair warning now, Blue. If any of you reptiles hurt my friends, I will hunt you down and BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY! Got that?"

Leo nodded mutely, still staring up at her. Then she glanced over her shoulder and Leo saw it. Her face was softer, almost affectionate, and a small smile was on her lips as her gaze scanned him. Still trapped on his shell, rolling occasionally, he couldn't help but stare at her.

Teegan gave a chuckle and looked away, "I'm glad we understand each other. But I think we should be going back to the others, Simmy's in a foul mood."

"Why do you say that?" Leo asked as he tried to roll back onto his feet.

Teegan rolled her eyes skyward and took three long, easy strides to him. She put one foot on the bottom of his shell and pushed him onto his plastron so that he came upright in a sitting position.

"Let's just say I have good intuition."

Leo stood up, his cheeks burning a little as he kept his eyes from hers. He wasn't about to mention where her foot had closely gone to. "If Mikey was here, he'd say you were an alien or superhero."

"Something like that," She responded. Leo hesitated a second. She sounded almost bitter. He followed her, walking back to the hole in the floor. She hopped down, disappearing from view for a few moments, before Leonardo followed her down.


	16. Chapter 16

**The New Era of New York**

"Don't worry about it, Meg. You know how controlling Captain gets." Simmy said, trying to cheer her friend up.

After the incident in Teegan's bedroom, everyone had headed to Jesse's room. The youngest girl had immediately curled up between Simmy and Michelangelo.

Donnie sat in the second bed and Raph was leaning against the wall, looking grumpy as per usual. Megami was pacing up and down the room, her eyes shifting between with worry and rebellion, her mouth in a straight line.

"I know. I know," The willowy woman said, her voiced laced with annoyance. "But Teegan's always looked out for us. She stays at least two steps ahead of _us_ when it comes to the safety of the girls. I just wish she'd enlighten us before she runs headfirst into danger."

Jesse looked between her two girl friends uncomfortably, "Captain's just tired. I'm sure she hasn't slept properly for weeks," The red head said, her pristine blue eyes giving off a childish air of innocence. When no one answered her, she shut her mouth and crossed her arms, looking put out.

Raphael stared at each of the young women in turn, "How'd she come to be your leader, anyway? She doesn't seem like the type people would choose willingly-"

As if he'd hit a nerve, all three girls snapped their necks to glare at him and say in chorus, "Shut your trap!"

Simmy jumped off the bed, her baby blues in slits as she marched up to the red masked turtle. When she stood right in front of him, she shoved him against the wall, roughly, "Don't. You. Dare! Talk about Captain like that."

Megami put out an arm and pulled the angry blonde away from the turtle, "Stop it, Simmy. There's been enough fighting for today."

Mikey felt movement next to him and looked down; Jesse had scooted closer to him and was clutching his fingers tightly between her two hands. She played with his three, green digits for a while as Megami muttered something to Simmy.

Donatello took a deep breath, "Raph, don't start a fight. Leo will just lecture you about your temper later," He added wearily.

Raph snorted, "Fearless should get his head outta his ass."

Then, just as he finished, Simmy appeared in front of him again and she poked his plastron, "What's your problem?"

"Oh, shell," They heard Mikey groan.

Raphael ignored him and pushed the tiny blonde back three steps, his blood warming, "My problem is that a couple of clueless chicks kidnapped me."

"Oh, so we're clueless now, are we? Well that goes to show how weak and pathetic you guys are at fighting if a bunch of clueless chicks saves your sorry ass!"

Simmy had marched up to him once again, and now she and Raph were standing close together; her head went up to about his chin so she had to tilt her head up to glare at him.

"At least what we don't have in quantity, we make up in quality!" Raph almost snarled out.

Simmy sneered, "Where did you hear that from? Your geeky bro over there?"

"Hey!" Donatello's face betrayed how offended he felt.

Now, Megami stepped in, "Shut it, Simmy!"

"Why don't you just zip it, Prissy!" Simmy shot back.

Jesse giggled nervously, "C'mon, guys. Let's not beat each other up." She shrunk back against Michelangelo who put his arms around her; although he pulled her onto his plastron as if she were a shield from his brothers and her friends' wrath.

Meg took three strides and tried to pull Simmy out the room, "Just stop it, Simmy."

"Let go!" The blonde raised a fist and lashed out.

Everyone was suddenly quiet then. They waited to hear a cry of pain, a small whimper or even a sob, but Simmy's punch hadn't landed on its mark. Instead, her small wrist had been caught deftly by pale, slender fingers.

"Teegan," Simmy wrenched her hand out of her leader's and stood back a few feet, still glaring, rage radiating off her petite form.

Just as she'd said, the brunette was there, bandages and all, standing between her two teammates, appearing almost out of thin air. Behind her, Meg was blinking quickly in confusion from the quick intervention.

Standing in the doorway of the bedroom, Leonardo had his arms crossed and his eyes were a little wider than usual. He had one foot in the room as if he were the one that was going to step in between the two girls. But, instead, he was also staring at Teegan in disbelief.

Teegan let her arms fall to her sides gently as she observed her shorter, fair friend. Her unflinching, cobalt eyes didn't move from Simmy's; eventually the blonde cursed softly and shuffled her feet. Glancing up at Megami briefly, she murmured an apology.

Meg nodded weakly and backed away, only to bump into Leo. He steered her to the bed and sat her down before straightening up and looking back at the girls. Simmy and Teegan were still standing there, just standing there.

Teegan's back was poised strong and elegant, regardless of her many injuries. Simmy was staring down at her feet, as if she were afraid of meeting her captain's hard gaze.

After several moments of torturous silence, Teegan took a step forward, put a friendly hand on the blonde's shoulder and shook her playfully, "Don't look so upset. You didn't hurt her."

For only the second time since knowing this band of females, the turtles saw the captain smile. Teegan's lips had tugged slowly into a crooked grin, but it looked a little forced.

Simmy nodded, saying nothing. Megami, over her shock, shook her head and smiled as well, "I'm not hurt at all, Simmy." Donnie got up off his chair and crouched beside Meg, giving her a quick check-over, even though he'd witnessed Teegan intervening before the blow had hit.

Simmy nodded, then raised her head and gave a tiny grin. She let out a snort and raised her hand for a fist pound. Instead, Teegan shook her head, "I still have to crack my knuckles back into place, and I don't want to have to do it again."

Simmy looked past her captain to Leo, who stared back uncertainly, "Did she kick your ass, turtle boy?"

Leo let out a short chuckle and rubbed the back of his head, cringing a little, "Uh... I'd rather not talk about it."

Teegan looked over her shoulder, suddenly sober and serious, "I meant it, Blue. One wrong step and you and your brothers can say farewell to your pretty faces," Leonardo nodded.

The youngest of the turtles piped up, "We _all_ have pretty faces? I thought I was the only one."

There was some laughter. Teegan rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath that made Raph's eyes widen a little and he gave a hesitant chuckle and stepped away from her.

Megami glanced at her captain and a frown was set on her mouth, "You shouldn't have left at all, Teegan. You're hurt," The tall brunette sat up and looked over at her leader.

Teegan shrugged, but her control on her facial expressions left for a second. In that split second there was a fleeting look of pain. Donnie noticed it and walked forward, but was stopped by a threatening glare. Teegan put one hand on her bandaged torso. Not wanting to start another argument, no one said a word about their concern for her.

For a while they all just sat around Jesse's room, talking about what had happened to the city during the past five years.

When asked about how she'd come to be in the group, Simmy shrugged, "Eh, same old story."

Raph raised an eye ridge, "And that means?"

"None of your business."


	17. Chapter 17

**The New Era of New York**

It was days later that Donatello was tinkering with a broken radio. He had discovered it in a storeroom down one of the many hallways and had decided to repair it for the sake of keeping himself busy. During the days that they had spent with the girls he had become close friends with the Megami, unfortunately she showed no more interest than that. The genius finally put away the screw driver and turned the dial of one of the black buttons. Static sizzled, but no other sound emitted. Sighing tiredly, Don picked up his tool again and proceeded to investigate the wiring.

Just over two weeks had passed since the turtles had found Teegan's band of women. Raphael had settled down a bit, not letting the girls' jokes get to him too much, especially since the bra incident from a few days earlier. Leo had also been pretty calm despite being away from their father. Michelangelo was as happy as ever. He had the rare opportinuty to flirt, play and hang out with people other than his brothers for the first time in over five years; so the youngest turtle was ecstatic to be where they were.

"Donnie!"

Don's concentration broke almost immediately. The purple banded turtle stumbled out his chair and hurried out the door. He was met by a strange sight, one that made him slow and stop in surprise.

Raphael had managed to pin Meg and Simmy beneath him by using his weight to squish them against the floor. Simmy was pounding her tiny fists against his shell and struggling to breathe as she protested. Megami was trying to wriggle out from beneath him, her chest heaving with uncontrollable giggles and a large smile on her lips. Raph had definitely settled down.

Donnie crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. He couldn't help but feel a little envious of his elder brother. He also wanted to just spend time hanging out but he was stuck doing work in a dark room by himself. True, it was by choice. Megami tilted her head to him and her grin widened, "Donnie, save me!" She squealed, hysterical.

Don's lips tugged into a half smile, but he didn't make a move to go 'save her'.

"Your brother's a sex-craved lunatic," A cold voice muttered next to him.

Don jumped and turned to see Teegan leaning against the wall, also watching her teammates, half hidden by shadows.

"Did I scare you?" She asked, dark blue eyes lighting up for a second, amusement evident.

Don chuckled a little nervously, "You sound as if you're eager to have scared me... And I'm not saying you did." She shrugged in response.

"How did you get here so quietly?" Donnie asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Teegan glanced at him with an elegantly raised brow. After a while, she pushed off the wall and started to walk away, "I'm brilliant, that's all."

Donatello nodded and looked back to where Raphael was torturing the two women.

"Don't worry about Meg," Teega's voice called back to him. "She likes you better than that fool." Referring to the crimson masked turtle. Donnie smiled as he watched her leave. Her one hand crept up to her hair and fiddled with the uneven locks.

After the explosion a few days ago, she'd been put on bed rest with Leo tending to her. That started problems of course and everyone was tense for a while. Her injuries should have been fatal. Donnie had been beyond awed when she was able to drag herself all the way from her hideout back to her room in her condition. The captain still had to wear bandages under her shirt for her torso injury and her hair was still hacked unevenly, but Megami had forbidden her from picking up a weapon. Teegan had been annoyed but obeyed her old friend. So, instead of cutting her dark brown hair, she had tied the longer side into a side pony. It gave her the appearance of a high school freshman; it looked young and cute, and that almost drove Teegan to just cut her hair with a saw. Luckily, Leo had stopped her before she could and had called in Megami and Don to try and sedate her. But even sedation didn't work longer than a couple hours.

Just as Teegan was about to disappear around the corner, Don realised he couldn't see her caretaker, "Where's Leo?" He asked her suspiciously.

Teegan's she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, not bothering to look back. Sure enough, there was Leonardo, standing a few feet away, successfully trying to stay hidden in the dark.

"I'm still amazed that you can sense a person's presence so easily," Donnie murmured, looking at her out the corner of his eye.

Teegan shrugged again and wandered away. She passed the place where Leonardo was hiding and pulled a rude gesture at him. Donnie heard his eldest brother snort, creep out his hiding place and follow her.

Donnie looked back to the three that were squirming on the floor. Then, out of nowhere, there was a loud battle cry and a green blur rushed past Don and leaped onto Raph's shell.

"TURTLE PILE!"

Raphael let out a groan as his baby brother jumped on top of him. There were giggles from behind and Don saw Jesse was sitting a little way away on the floor, pointing at them, her baby blues sparkling.

Meg glanced up at Don and lifted her hands up pleadingly, "Dooonnnnnniiiiieee!" She gave him a pout that could've rivalled against Mikey's.

Don let out a loud sigh, then smiled, took a running leap and landed on top of their baby brother. Raph let out an abnormally high squeak and fell forward, his head hitting the floor with a resounding thud. The two girls beneath him squealed as they were squashed beneath three giant turtles. Meg wiggled out, then climbed on top of Michelangelo and flopped down onto Don's shell. She put her arms around his neck and looked down at him, smiling.

"You're a terrible knight in shining armour." She said, planting her butt firmly onto his shell, preventing him from getting up. It was like a tower of turtles and girls. Simmy was at the bottom being squished by Raph, who was also giving her a noogie. Then there was Mike who was sandwiched between his two brothers. Don was next with Megami sitting on top of him.

They were hiccupping from laughing so much when they heard an enraged screech.

"I DON'T NEED A BABY-SITTER! GIVE ME THE SCISSORS!" Teegan's voice reached them.

Megami stopped and turned her head in the same direction. Then there was Leo's hurried footsteps. He poked his head around the corner and glanced back down the hall he'd just fled from.

He blinked at the doggy pile, but ignored it, "Hey, Don, do you have any sedatives on you?"

From the hallway he'd come out of, a shoe came flying out and hit him directly on his bald, jade head. Leo growled and marched back the way he'd come, "Never mind. I'll take care of it myself." He took off down the passage, holding the heeled boot in his hand as if it were a lethal weapon.

Everyone was quiet, until Jesse groaned and crossed her arms, sulking.

"What's wrong, Jesse?" Simmy asked the young red head.

Jesse sniffed, "Those were my favourite hooker heel boots."

Everyone burst out laughing again at the absurdity.


	18. Chapter 18

**The New Era of New York**

Jesse's lower lip was quivering, tears threatening to fall from her watery eyes, "I don't want to lose my tortoises." She said in a wobbly voice.

Everyone had gathered in the lobby, the same way as if there were to be a briefing about the next raid. Instead, they had found out that they were going to have to say goodbye to their green friends. As soon as the captain had told them, Jesse had let out an unexpected howl and had hobbled over to Mikey, throwing her arms around him and smothering his head tightly against her chest. That had been over ten minutes ago and the red head was still sobbing so hard that she was choking and coughing.

Teegan sat in a chair that had a plush, ripped cushion seat. Everyone knew she'd prefer to be standing with her back tall and arms crossed, but Donatello had given Meg specific orders to keep the captain from hurting herself after Teegan had tried to join a raid a few days before, though Don had noted that even Teegan's unique injuries healed a lot faster than anyone he'd ever seen before. As more time had gone by, though, Leo became increasingly concerned about their father. Eventually, he decided they had to leave.

It was heart-wrenching for some of them to see them standing by the door, ready to creep outside and run through the deserted streets of the dead city to go home. Some were wiping their eyes, others were trying to convince them to stay longer, but everyone knew that they were leaving. Simmy was one of the few that were raging; almost instantly looking to beat up Raphael. Megami had been furious at first, then as she gradually calmed down she realised that this was just Simmy trying to cope with their leaving. And Teegan was just cold. The air about her quiet and alert. Jesse was crying openly again and was trying to climb on top of Michelangelo's shell. The orange masked turtle looked unhappy at losing his new friend, but he gently grasped Jesse's freckled arms and pulled her off; letting her collapse on the floor, sobbing her heart out.

"I don't want you to go!" She wailed, covering her face with her hands.

Simmy stepped forward from the crowd, stooping to put her arms around her younger friend. She glanced up at the turtles, her eyes flickering to Raph for a second before landing on Leo, "Don't get your shells kicked out there, okay?"

Leo nodded stiffly. He'd been mute through all this and he was going to stay this way as long as he could. His silvery gray eyes kept straying to where Teegan sat. She was rubbing her head with a pained grimace, her deep blue eyes opening and closing all the time.

Megami came next, she held out her hand to each of them, mumbling, "Bye." Don grasped her hand for longer, only letting go when she pulled away.

Leo took breathed in deeply, "Well, this is goodbye, I guess."

His brothers looked at him, their expressions completely readably. They wanted to stay, but they knew they couldn't.

Leonardo stepped back, but stopped when something struck near him, whizzing and burying itself in the wall behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, shoulders tense. What he saw shocked him. Two gleaming katanas, along with a pair of polished Sais, flew past either side of his head, burying themselves in the wall in front of the turtles. Donnie's bo staff came next with Mikey's chucks wrapped securely around them.

"I like swords, but I don't think those particular swords are my style, Blue." Came a sharp voice. Even without turning around, Leo knew who it was. He smiled. Within seconds each turtle had his weapons back in their rightful places.

"Take care of yourselves and let your father know how much we appreciated your help," Teegan said, folding her arms across her chest in a way that reminded them of a cheeky child, her headache apparently forgotten. "I don't want to have to go saving your green asses again."

Leo smirked and withdrew one of his swords, "Of course not... Captain."

A shoe came flying at him; this time the blue masked turtle caught it before it slammed into his head.

It was only three minutes later when they had left that the turtles were really gone, having speedily hidden themselves in the shadows of night.

Teegan unfolded her arms in the silence and spoke in an almost motherly tone, "That's that. C'mon, girls. Back to bed, we've got more raids to plan."

With lots of grumbling and quiet remarks of new weaponry the crowd soon dispersed to their designated bedrooms. Teegan stood in the lobby for a while after everyone had left, then raised a hand to her temple and rubbed gently.

"Damn it," She cursed, a pounding already restarting in her cranium.

"You okay, Teegan?" Megami came from around the corner, looking concernedly at her friend.

Teegan nodded, putting her hand down and smiling convincingly at her friend, "I'm fine. Go to bed. I'll be fine without a babysitter tonight."

Meg nodded and slowly shuffled from the lobby. Teegan waited till she was alone again. She soundlessly walked to the door that the turtles had left through. Without second guessing, she slipped out the door.

She climbed a protesting fire escape and soon she was leaping from roof to roof, cobalt eyes always keeping the four ninja turtles in her sight.

After a few minutes of running and jumping from the rooftop, she stopped and waited. The turtles went down an alley and were pulling up the lid of a manhole. One by one they disappeared down into the sewers.

Teegan waited till the last one closed the lid, then gave a crooked smile. She didn't have to worry about them anymore; they were on their way home. She turned on her heel and took off on the roofs of New York City. She took a running jumped, hopped on the ledge, then did an impressive twist flip over the side of the four storey building. She landed in a cat-like crouch with her legs bent and her hands flat on the ground below the building and hurried back to the hotel where her team was probably asleep by now.


	19. Chapter 19

**The New Era of New York**

For the week since the turtles left, the hotel had seemed quieter, sombre. Simmy had been on a short fuse and fought with anyone who crossed her. Meg had been playing with the radio that Donatello had fixed up for her and Jesse spent her days reading the same comic book over and over. Teegan had eased off from being the protective leader, but she constantly disappeared every few hours and come back exhausted. When she wasn't disappearing or prowling the hotel floors, she usually locked herself in her bedroom to sleep for up to fifteen hours at a time. When Meg had confronted her about it, Teegan had shrugged off the concern and went off by herself again; when she'd come back from that disappearance she'd returned with dark rings under her eyes and her muscles tense and fatigued. The bandages that Don had ordered her to wear on her wounds had also mysteriously vanished.

Some of the other girls had also expressed feelings of worry and fear when they'd told Megami about supposed late night visitors wandering their Headquarters. Apparently one of the youngsters had woken up during the night, only to hear voices outside her door. They'd been talking in hushed tones but she heard something about _the family coming back together_. The next day Megami had gone to Teegan about the voices and ever since the leader had been informed, the voices had never been heard again.

Tonight was no different from the rest of week. Teegan had gone off by herself and no one had seen her leave. So, Meg and Simmy decided that they'd wait up for their captain and interrogate her about the events that had happened. So far they'd been sitting in Teegan's room for over four hours and no sign of the dark haired, blue-eyed woman coming back had been noted.

Simmy was slouched against the wall, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "It's almost one in the morning," She said, stifling a yawn. "If Teegan was going to come back tonight she would have been here by now, Meg."

"Maybe," Meg said from her place on the bed. The lanky woman blinked slowly at her blonde friend.

They both stopped talking when the door squeaked open, but they groaned in unison when a head of bright red hair peered in. "You guys waiting for Teegan?" She asked; her blue eyes were bloodshot from all the crying she'd been doing during the past week.

Megami smiled gently and patted the space next to her. Jesse returned it with a weak grin. She hobbled in on her crutches and plopped down the bed, half on top of Meg, who chuckled and gently pushed her invalid friend away, "Shouldn't you be trying to walk without the crutches, Jesse?"

"Yeah, but I don't want Teegan to bite my head off if I'm not fit. So I'll be keeping them for _just_ a little longer. Thank you very much!" Jesse grinned. Simmy sighed loudly and pushed off the wall, coming over to them and flopping down on Meg's other side.

"What are the other girls up to, Jesse?" The petite blonde asked, placing her head on a pillow.

Jesse looked thoughtful, "The kiddies are still freaked out of those voices that Stephanie heard the other night. She's been telling them that the hotel's haunted."

"Stephanie's stupid," Meg said dryly, her eyes narrowing.

"Just give me the word," Simmy glanced at her. "And I'll beat her skinny white ass as if tomorrow I was turning into a girl with frilly pink ribbons."

"Simmy..."

"... I was kidding, Meggie."

"Yeah, right, Blondie."

"I was!"

Jesse giggled as her friends glared at each other; forest green matching sky blue. But all sounds stopped when the door was pushed open and a trembling body stumbled in, almost tripping over its own feet.

Megami was the first to recover from the shock, sitting up and saying softly, "Teegan?

The entire left side of her face, from her hairline to her collarbone, was obscured by dark red blood. Only her right eye was open, but droplets of blood oozed out the barely gave them a second glance before she staggered slowly to the adjoining bathroom and closed the door quietly after her. The sound of the shower head being turned on to full blast was the next thing they heard.

Simmy and Jesse shared bemused looks and both stared at Megami, as if mentally asking her what was happening.

She shrugged as response, then called out, "Hey, Teegan, are you okay?"

No reply.

"Tee?" Now Jesse slid off the bed, grabbed one of her crutches from off the floor and pounded on the bathroom door.

Nothing.

Before any of the girls could do anything, Simmy leaped off the bed and hurtled to the door, throwing one slim shoulder against the wood. She bounced off the door as if she was nothing, but a huge dent on the surface was enough to fuel her to smash against the door again. With two more slams the door fell open, off one hinge, and Simmy toppled into the white, disinfectant smelling bathroom. By now Meg and Jesse had joined her in the door frame when they saw that Simmy wasn't moving from off the floor. Their eyes followed Simmy's to the shower.

There, sitting cross-legged with her head leaning back and fully dressed, was Teegan. She had her back against the tiled wall of the shower and her eyes were closed, hot droplets battering against her. She seemed to have fallen asleep in the short time it'd taken for them to break through.

Simmy was still blinking from her position on the floor as she tried to wrap this around her head. What the hell was all she could think of at the moment.

"Simmy, help me," Meg murmured, stepping over Simmy and making her way quietly to the shower. She turned the water off and knelt down in the wet shower to lay her hand over her captain's forehead. Megami frowned and touched Teegan's arm, "Her head is burning up, but her body is cold."

Simmy crawled closer, motioning to Jesse to ready Teegan's bed, "Do you think she got one of her headaches again?" It was usual for Teegan to use ways of heat to bring down the head pains that she regularly experienced. It was almost as if she moved on automatic when a migraine was in effect.

Between Simmy and Meg they guided their captain out the shower and into the bedroom. While Jesse pulled back the bedcovers, the other's pulled off Teegan's drenched trousers, shirt and waterlogged boots. They knew Teegan always wore boxers and a spaghetti top beneath all her clothes. Though they were soaked, they doubted Teegan would appreciate being undressed, even by them. She was eased under the sheets but as soon as her head touched the pillows, troubled blue eyes flew open and blinked confusedly at them.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Teegan asked them, her head lolled to the sides and she lifted one hand from out the blankets to touch her forehead tenderly.

Megami frowned down at her, "You're sick," She said simply.

Jesse gave a nervous giggle, "You almost drowned yourself. You don't remember?"

"... Yes. It was warm."

Simmy was at her side, crouched down so that they were at eye level, "Where did you go?"

"Nowhere important," Teegan muttered, closing her eyes tiredly and rubbing at her temples, willing the pain to relieve itself.

"That's bull. What's going on with you lately?"

"Nothing."

Simmy scowled and leaned forward, "You really like words that start with 'no', don't you?"

Teegan open her eyes to glare at her, "Leave my quarters, Simone. I'm not in the mood for utter childishness from someone who's supposed to be an adult." Jesse, Simmy and Megami fell silent; it wasn't like their captain to say something like that. She was speaking very proper but in a tone that one used on a disobedient child that did the same wrong thing over and over again, an uncommon thing since none of them had finished their high school career due to the downfall of the city and Teegan never thought of herself being of higher status.

Simmy on the hand looked enraged, "What did you say!?" Ignoring gasped protests from the other two, she grasped the front of Teegan's soaked shirt and pulled her upper body right off the bed. Teegan, for the most part, seemed to go with it. She didn't raise a hand to get out of Simmy's grasp, but she did fix an intense, condescending gaze on her, wordlessly daring the other to land a hit on her.

The gaze seemed to be enough to madden Simmy to the point that her angry face shifted slightly. She opened her mouth to say something, but her words were unheard as, out of nowhere, loud whirrs surrounded the hotel building. Eyes widened as realisation hit them. Meg flew to one of the windows that was boarded up and yanked off a plank. In the night sky, lights flashed and sirens went off, as vans pulled up around the hotel. Megami leaned closer. The whirring in the air was steadily growing louder and she let out a shriek of surprise as a helicopter descended right in front of her.

"Duck!" Blinding white lights locked on the window and the four girls barely had time to throw themselves onto the floor before a grenade was thrown against the bedroom window.

"Ahh!" Jesse screamed as she landed on her almost completely healed leg with a painful thud. The electricity went off as the building shook. Red and orange flames crawled at the wall that had been hit. Wails and yells emitted from the depths of the hotel. Lying on the floor with Simmy's hand still awkwardly clenching her top, Teegan sluggished raised her head. Cobalt eyes glowered with an icy fire. With blood dribbling down her cheek from her left eye, she easily detached herself from Simmy and stood up, wobbling slightly as she straightened her back. She marched to the window and yanked the entire window apart, planks, frame and glass. Glass fell at her feet, shattering beautifully. She stared angrily at the sight below her. From the vans that surrounded the front side of the hotel, dark clad fighters armed with swords and guns, advanced. Tired, bleeding eyes snapped to the sky. Overhead three choppers were descending to the roof. Lines were dropped and men swung down. Teegan stalked back into the room, glanced around for a moment, and went for the bed. With her three friends watching in shocked awe, she pushed her bed onto its side. With one strong push, the bed squealed and went sliding to crash against the open window, preventing anymore grenades from entering. With the window barricaded, Teegan looked back at the girls who were dazedly getting to their feet.

Jesse was staring at her open mouthed, "H-How'd you d-d-do that?" Her voice stuttered. Teegan's bed was quite solid and would've taken at least four men to move it, but the Captain had moved it as if it were just a plastic beach chair.

Teegan glanced over her shoulder at the furniture and cursed to herself. She looked back at them. They didn't have time for this, they had to get everyone out of the building. Walking to the door quickly, Teegan caught Simmy by the shoulder as she passed, "Get everyone away from here. Take them through the back way to one of alleys near Central Park. Find a manhole and go hide in the sewer. You'll find the turtles eventually. Get them to take you somewhere safe—"

Before she could finish, a bomb was detonated. More shouts of terror echoed throughout the hotel. The building rumbled and Teegan held back a shiver as she realized that one of the lower rooms for the younger girls had been reduced to broken rubble.

Teegan was almost at the door when Simmy's hand shot out and caught her, pulling her back to meet her eyes, "What the hell's happening out there, Teegan? Where are you going?!" Simmy was shouting just to be heard over the blasting and bangs. Teegan pushed her towards the door harshly, sending her tumbling almost into a wall, "Just do as I say, Simone!"

With that said Teegan flew past them and disappeared. Simmy gritted her teeth as the floor beneath them shook again. After the shaking stopped for a moment, she looked over her shoulder at Megami and Jesse, who were huddled together holding hands. She hurried towards them and dragged them with her out the door.

"We have to move! Meg, get everyone out back and to Central Park! Jesse, watch my back! We'll join you guys later," Megami nodded wordlessly and ran out the room, shouting out names of nearby women to help her. Jesse stared after her, but let out a loud protest when she felt her crutches being ripped out of her hands.

Simmy threw the crutches aside and turned so that her back was facing the younger red head and crouched, "Get on my back, Jesse. We hafta go!"

Jesse climbed onto the woman's back, clinging to her shoulders tightly. Then they were off.

The next few minutes were a blur. Females were running around, comforting friends, or trying to get personal belongings. When they heard hasty orders, they were quick to follow. Simmy was out back, watching over her comrades whilst keeping an eye out for Teegan. When everyone was outside the dark back way of the hotel they were immediately spotted by the choppers that aimed blinding lights and a missile was fired. With fire quickly spreading throughout the hotel and a half dozen blood smeared bodies lying lifeless in various rooms, Simmy felt her heart sink as she faced the oncoming missile.

When the missile hit, Simmy was thrown forward from the impact and behind her the rest of the girls screamed in hot horror. Those that were more composed helped each other up and then were running for cover in the nearby alleys. Simmy stood up and adjusted Jesse on her back. Her limbs felt like they were jelly like and her knees were covered in blood soaked trousers. Jesse was sobbing, her back scorched red with blisters; the back of the shirt she was wearing had been burnt though, revealing the angry flesh.

Simmy cursed loudly as she dodged more incoming attacks, but shots in the smoke filled night sent a piercing pain in her leg made her crumble to the ground again. This time, she didn't get up. When she'd fallen, Jesse had gone toppling down with her. With the extra weight gone, Simmy glanced weakly down at her thigh. Three dark holes stared back her, each gushing out crimson. Bullets. She'd never been shot before, she thought groggily. She risked a look to see what was happening around her and she rubbed one bloodied hand across her face, blinking pathetically as she found herself staring at the cold eyes of a shooter that stood just feet away. He had a submachine gun cocked at her. Simmy clenched her hands together and lowered her head, waiting for her last sounds.

She heard gunfire close by, but when she didn't feel anything, she peeked over her arms.

The man now lay in broken heap. His neck was twisted at an angle that made the bone stick through the skin and his eyes were glazed over. It took a moment but Simmy let out a terrified moan. She clawed her pained body over to where Jesse lay, cradling her head close to her chest. Jesse felt Simmy's sticky, wet hands on her arm and raised scared eyes to her.

"I-I want to g-go!" Jesse clutched Simmy closer, her face reflecting what she was going through.

Simmy hugged her close and tried to soothe her. Around them, their fellow teammates were either making a break for it or being shot down. A missile was launched straight through the hotel and it went through the roof for a second before it exploded in a shower of debris and fire.

An insistent hand on Simmy's shoulder forced her to tear her eyes away from the destroyed hideout. She looked blurrily at the person shaking her. Megami?

"Get up! Get up!" With Megami were two other young women who grabbed Jesse and helped her limp away from the attackers. Megami took hold of Jesse and shoved the blonde ahead of her. Simmy was barely being able to keep up with all that was happening. All she could think about was the blood that spurted out her thigh whenever she put her foot down.

She looked around, disorientated for a second before she just guessed where Meg was and said in a delirious voice, "... You not gettin' showt at..." She managed to blab out illegibly, her voice drawling.

Megami gave her a worried glance, and then answered in one word with a tight voice, "Teegan."

Simmy narrowed her eyes quizzically, cringing when another loud explosion burst through her ears. She felt warm liquid running down both sides of her face and she let out a moan of pain. She didn't know what happened after that. Her world spun for a few seconds and black dots appeared in her vision. Her head lolled forward and her eyes closed.

Megami hefted Jesse more onto her shoulders, not even slowing her running. They were only a block from Central Park. Teegan had told them to go into the sewers to find the turtles. Why would Teegan say that? She never asked for help from anyone. But, Meg thought mentally, Teegan has never been normal.

The park came into view and Megami hurried over the dead grass. Over the years the park had become overrun with weeds and small rodents had taken refuge in its tall grasses. Trees were dead, dry trunks now. Meg looked around her at the girls that had followed her. There were only about twenty or so. They'd lost some along the way, from death or sheer fear of being caught. So far there was no sign of them being followed, but if she knew Teegan, she was keeping them all distracted by her unexplained antics, much to Meg's discomfort. In no time the women were standing in the middle of Central Park, every one of them bruised, broken and red stained. Meg blinked around for a few minutes, the gears in her mind rotating.

A manhole; they needed a manhole. Her green eyes caught sight of a dark alley that was overrun with garbage. That one, she decided.

"Everyone, the alley on fifth!" The girls who'd lain down slowly and painfully got up and followed the second in command to the appointed place. After pushing aside old black bags of trash, a fourteen year old girl let out a call and tried to pull open the lid of a rusty manhole. When she couldn't, an older woman took her place and lifted the heavy lid to the side with difficulty. There was much hesitation, but everyone was soon climbing down the ladder into the dark depths of New York City's sewers. After the manhole had been replaced in its rightful place and everyone was shivering in the dark, Megami put Simmy down carefully and checked on the half conscious girl. After the quick search of fatal injuries on the girls, Megami did a head count.

Out of almost forty, only eighteen had made it back; that was excluding Teegan.

Megami's chest tightened and she fought to restrain choked sounds of despair. How were they supposed to find the turtles down here? The sewers stretched all over the city. There was no way they'd be able to find four giant reptiles. After a few minutes of silent arguing with herself, Meg finally stood up and addressed the stricken girls.

"Alright, this was an unfortunate and unplanned attack on us," Megami would have laughed mockingly at herself if they weren't in such conditions. "But Teegan ordered us to find the help of the turtles. And that's what we're going to do."

After they'd gotten everyone to their feet, the small group made their way cautiously through the underground pipes. They had to help each other down the stairs with the injured girls and over a few train rails, but that was the worst of it. It was a few minutes later when an agonised voice shrieked bloody hell.

Heads swivelled to see Simmy straining to hold her leg. From her waist down it was bloody and ragged, blood had dried on her cheek and forehead and the knuckles on her right hand were sticking out unusually. Her eyes were wide and her body was trembled in pain. The next thing they knew, they were being spoken to in a cautious voice that sounded familiar.

"What are ya chicks doin' down here?"

Megami recognised it as the voice of a certain green skinned, red masked, bald, sai wielding turtle. Before she knew what she was doing, she was running to the voice, bawling her eyes out and babbling about what had happened.

"Meg?" There was a click and sudden light from a small torch was welcomed by the eighteen girls who hurried towards it. There standing in front of them, were the four turtles.

Out of all of them, Raphael looked the most confused and awkward. Megami had rushed straight to him and thrown her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He stared down at her, and then glanced at Donatello who was holding the torch. After knowing that they were in good company, each of the turtles switched their own torches on and stared at the unexpected visitors.

Simmy, who had resorted to low moaning, was the first to be recognised. Donnie thrust his torch at Leo, who caught it deftly and followed him to the wounded woman. Don knelt down in front of her and his fingers touched the three gunshot holes in her leg.

"Leo," Don looked back at their eldest brother. "We have to take them to the lair. I can't treat them out here without every single one of them getting an infection."

Leonardo nodded, "I'll explain to Master Splinter when we get them back home."

It was a quick reunion, but it was the happiest thing that had ever happened to those eighteen girls. They were led swiftly through the tunnels and they were told to close their eyes for a second. Then a door slid open and they were brought inside the turtle's lair. It wasn't as bad as Jesse had often imagined it. There was a kitchen that was connected to a lounge that had a large flat screen TV playing soap operas. Then there was a second floor that had a couple doors. There was also a double door that led to a room that reflected the faint light of candles. This was all taken in quickly as they were hustled inside.

Donnie was quick at organising who needed medical treatment the most, but the one he dealt with first was Simmy. He took her in his arms and hurried into his lab, where he laid her on the table and got out his tools. As Leo, Mikey and Raph dealt with the other girls, Raph's eyes kept straying to the lab whenever he heard Simmy yell.

Michelangelo had made himself comfortable next to Jesse, who had curled into his side and was crying softly. He was careful about her back, though; his baby blues had caught the deep burns on her skin. Leonardo was going around, checking the women. He wasn't a doctor, but he'd be able to tell if they were hurt fatally. When he noticed that Teegan wasn't among them, he went to Megami.

Meg had been seated on the couch, a blanket around her trembling shoulders. Leo crouched in front of her, a cold feeling seeping through his chest as he started to dread the question he was about to ask.

"Is Teegan...?"

Meg gulped, but shook her head slowly. She raised her eyes to his and spoke hoarsely, "I don't know."

She didn't get to say anything else. Leonardo had stood up and briskly made his way out the way they'd come in. Raph and Mikey stared after him, wondering where he was going but after an explanation from Meg, they understood.

Leaders always looked out for each other.

Meg was starting to feel drowsy when a new voice, deep and calm, reached her ears.

"Raphael, Michelangelo. What is the meaning of this intrusion?"

She turned in her chair, and then froze when her eyes settled on an oversized, furry creature that wore a scarlet robe. Megami gaped mutely at the creature. Raphael was the one to notice her, when he did he shrugged and introduced the rat, "That's our master Splinter," He said, but his shoulders squared themselves nervously as he straightened.

"Uh," Mike seemed at a loss for words.

"They helped us when were attacked by the Foot, master," Donnie poked his head out the lab, his hands bloody, but his face more relaxed.

Master Splinter narrowed his eyes as he looked at all the wounded fighters. Then he made quick orders, "Michelangelo, warm water and a cloth." The elderly rat knelt beside a fair haired woman who had burns on her arms and legs. When Mikey came back with the water, he gave it to his father who gently began to clean the girl's limbs.


	20. Chapter 20

_**The New Era of New York**_

The building rocked as another bomb was detonated. Windows burst and shrieks followed. Teegan rushed through every floor of the hotel, looking for any survivors who'd been left behind. "Captain!" Teegan halted and spun around, skidding on bent knees a few feet before coming to a complete stop. Her cobalt eyes stopped on a familiar young woman. "What are you still doing here, Tracey?"

The woman's face was almost black with dirt and her dark brown hair was a mess. Her deep-sea blue eyes were lively and alert. Tracey stopped next to her leader, "I was making sure everyone had gotten out." She said. Teegan frowned. Among all the girls, Tracey had one of the best builds. Her slender body had small muscles and her long, graceful legs were always quick and stealthy on missions. Despite her impressive performance in the field, there was always something off about her. At the same time, there was a strange familiarity. Tracey hadn't been discovered by Teegan or the other girls. She had practically walked up to the Captain and asked permission to stay with them. So far there'd been no conflicts with Tracey.

Teegan gave a curt nod, "I'll take over from here. Get out." She ordered. Tracey's blue eyes gleamed. She turned and took off, her long hair flying behind her. Teegan spun on her heel and continued in the opposite direction.

The dark woman was still hurrying when her eyes caught something through a passing window. Doubling back, she stared down at the back alley of their headquarters. There, sprawled on the ground with blood dribbling and sweat falling, was Simmy and Jesse. A uniformed man had the barrel of his gun pointed at her bowed head. Teegan felt a cold fist hit her. Her eyes narrowed and an electric blue light entered them. Almost snarling with the sudden rage, Teegan backed away from the window by several feet. She took a running leap and, using her booted feet, catapulted herself through the window.

Glass shattering was a beautiful sound. The strange, tinkling melody of sharp fragments hitting concrete was the only sound that Teegan allowed herself to hear. The ground was moving quickly to meet with her and Teegan twisted through the air. With barely a thud giving away her position behind the uniformed man, she clamped her hands over the intruder's ears. Glass showered overhead, leaving little cuts and nicks.

The man was shrieking with terror as he was spun around to face her. His next words were choked, "Y-You!"

With a growl, Teegan added pressure and there was a loud snap! His eyes dulled lifelessly and the body she held became a corpse. Disgusted, she threw the body aside and, with a glance at Simmy's unmoving form, strode to crouch behind a pile of bricks. She had to only wait a few moments for Megami to come along and assist her fallen companions. As soon as the girls were far enough, Teegan uncoiled herself. She looked up at the third floor where the window she'd broken was. Cursing, she walked around to the front of the hotel. Everywhere were armed men and women, guns and other machinery. Overhead choppers roared.

"Pathetic," Teegan muttered to herself.

Suddenly she was blinded by a bright light aimed at her.

"Don't move! Don't move!" A booming voice yelled over the helicopters and sirens.

There was a hustle as a group moved to aim their weapons at her. Teegan sighed and moved into plain sight. She felt shocked eyes on her as she held up her hands. One of the men that circled her commented bitingly, "Never thought I'd see the day..."

Teegan gave a single, dry chuckle. She bent her knees a little, readying herself. The man who'd commented noticed the slight movement and cocked his gun, "Hey! Don't you—" She was off before he could finish. The Captain climbed the side of the hotel moving like liquid, her body lithe and flexible. There were several moments of shocked nothingness before the bullets began to trail after her. She made it to the fifth floor balcony where she flipped, rolled and lay behind a chunk of the roof which had fallen in the bombing. The fifth floor was ablaze and the smoke was thick. The polluted air didn't seem to faze her and Teegan pressed herself against the chunk, feeling the vibration of the gun power hitting it. Her skin was shining with perspiration, but her breathing was calm and even. She took a minute to analyse her surroundings. The helicopters were already slowing; in minutes men would be on the roof where they'd have the best advantage of pinning down any lost girls. Within a day the fires that consumed the hotel would be quenched and people would be dispatched to search the premises.

Teegan breathed deeply. The fury from before had ebbed away to a frozen serenity that allowed her to think with an inhumane clarity. In her mind, Teegan replayed the exquisite sound of glass breaking. The electric spark returned to her eyes and with a grunt, she flung herself from her lying position to the next top floor. She reached the roof in seconds and balanced on the uneven slates. She'd been right about the choppers. Two were flying over the city in search of the runaways and the other was hovering a good few feet over the roof. Ropes had been let down and men were dropped.

A handful of armed men had their weapons cocked and one spoke leeringly, "Look what the cat dragged in. One of them freaks," The man gave a booming laugh when he saw her poised in front of him. His eyes were menacing as they looked her over. The blue sparks that were Teegan's eyes lit up like a bolt of lightning.

The Captain let her hands fall limply to her sides and she said, sinisterly, "Get the hell off my roof."

The man's loud laughter followed. "Wow, he's going to be one happy man to see you still alive with all those old parts." He guffawed. His comrades agreed more quietly than him. None of them were paying attention. It was with one quick movement that Teegan had the first within her grasp. Effortlessly, she tossed him over the roof. His screams and the crack of every one of his bones smattering against the concrete were tuned out by the glass that shattered wonderfully in her head.

One by one the intruders were thrown to their death. At the last one, Teegan held him close and hissed, "If I'm the freak, what does that make you, eh?" She flicked her wrist and he, too, was sent screaming. The chopper that had dropped the fighters was slowly moving away from the building. Teegan ran to the edge of the roof and cart wheeled off. Her fingers just closed over the bottom rung of the air craft as it moved away and she pulled herself up into it. There were two pilots at the controls. The one turned in his seat and yelled when he saw her. He was quickly removed from his seat and shoved out the door to join the others. Teegan started towards the man with slow, deliberate steps. His face was obscured by a dark helmet.

"W-Wait, Teegan," His voice was hoarse as he stood up, holding up his hands. Teegan hesitated, lifting an elegant eyebrow. The man pulled the helmet off his head, revealing grey hair and a weathered complexion. He fumbled behind him and put the air craft onto hover. The warm brown eyes were hard to look at with the shootings and bombs that were going off outside.

"You've grown so much, my girl. You look like your mother. But, then, so do the others."


	21. Chapter 21

_**The New Era of New York**_

Teegan watched as the salt-and-pepper haired man chuckled incredulously, staring at her with almost adoration. Slowly, she uncoiled her tense, ready to attack, body and straightened.

"I didn't expect to see you again, Geoffrey," Teegan said. Her glowing blue eyes dulled to their more normal cobalt.

Geoffrey's brown eyes lit up hearing the recognition and he stepped forward, only to stop when Teegan retreated back. He spoke to her soothingly, "I had my thoughts that you had something to do with these rebellious fighters. Only you could persuade and protect such a company. You were such a possessive little girl growing up. Then—"

"Then I changed," Teegan cut him off flatly. "You might as well jump out on your own accord, Geoffrey. Ally or not, I'm not letting _them _get any of my girls. So you can go ahead and tell them to go find themselves another rodent to run their maze."

The man's face betrayed the hurt and shock he felt, "Ally? I considered you to be a young friend." Teegan looked away as loud, furious voices yelled from below. Geoffrey's eyebrows knitted together, "I tried to save the others. But they were not as smart as you were. Many people underestimated you back then. You were little more than a child, but you managed to free every one of those victims and get away."

"Geoffrey, get out!" Teegan said through gritted teeth. He was speaking more quickly, more urgently as more choppers roared in the distance, "Your tracer came up blank! You were separated from the others. That's the reason that you haven't been discovered sooner."

"Last chance!" The electricity brightened Teegan's eyes as the old familiar cold fury grew from her stomach to surround her entire body. "You didn't mean for it to happen, but it did and it saved you from being dragged back in pieces or worse." With a low growl and two quick steps, Teegan grabbed the lapels of his uniform and pulled him roughly towards the open exit of the helicopter.

"They have your sisters," He croaked, his face paling as hot wind rushed past him.

The woman holding him froze. She pulled him back inside the aircraft and studied him. Geoffrey wiped his sweating face and looked out to his comrades on the ground. He glanced at Teegan, "I know this isn't the time or the place. But I have to at least try save one of Pauline's children." His brown eyes steadied on her. "Teegan, I need you to do something... for your mother's sake, if not for your own." Teegan crossed her arms and scowled, waiting. Geoffrey looked at her pleadingly, "Leave the city. Don't try to take it back. Don't try to save your sisters or any of those experiments. Just take care of yourself for once. Leave those girls you sent away. Just make yourself a priority."

Her eyes flashed, "No." She said immediately.

Geoffrey faltered, backing away closer to the exit. Smoke from the burning hotel billowed around them, obscuring them from potential snipers and other shooters. Teegan glared at him, "You expect me to leave those girls, MY girls, alone, to fend for themselves in this damned city!" She said in a furious, whispered shriek. "You talk about those experiments as if they're not the same as you, then what does that make me? A monster? Well, I can tell you that I've met my share of those who aren't classified as human. But they make a hell of a lot better company than any human. Now, GET OUT!"

Geoffrey stumbled back at the barely contained ferocity, "Please... For Pauline, your mother. Don't make her sacrifice for nothing."

It was a fraction of a second that passed. Teegan's small fist gripped his shirt and she hauled him to the opening of the chopper. His bigger, calloused hand drifted over hers for a moment.

"Just a child," He said, still begging.

She flexed and he was tossed out into the sky. The smoke curled around him, engulfing him. It was only a short fall. He crash through the weak roof slates, but there was no thud or crack. There was the sound of protesting strings and Teegan glanced through the gaping hole to see the man lying stunned on a wide bed. He met her eyes and gave silent thanks.

She had barely turned away from the opening when bullets rained on the outside of the helicopter. Metal met metal, leaving small dents. Teegan fumbled with the chopper's controls until she pressed the correct buttons. Red and yellow lights flashed and the helicopter tilted onto its side, falling. Eye watering air rushed around her as she moved to stand in the threshold of the opening that faced the clean sky. Her eyes saw the hotel coming up quickly to meet her and she braced her legs for the jump. She timed it perfectly. Just as the metal of the chopper touched the top most slates of the roof, she leaped. It was only a few feet. There was an awestruck silence as the air craft crashed and burst into flames, exploding further. Flames flew towards the airborne girl, shooting her further and higher. Bits of burning debris followed after her.

At the speed she was flying, the buildings were a slow blur of grey, red, orange and black. Teegan could hear the buildings around the hotel collapsing and yells of terror, but no gunshots. As she sailed, she found herself blinking dumbly as the ground raced towards her.

She landed feet first and glided for a good while. She fell onto her hands and knees then, skidding and rolling until she smacked into a street lamp that broke off and landed on top of her. She lay in a heap for two seconds before carefully pulling herself up.

"Captain!"

Green and blue streaked towards her. It grabbed her and started beating her. For a second Teegan wasn't sure what was happening. She felt sort of... melted. As if her body and brain had been reduced to nothing but a strange gloop. Then she noticed the orange and blue flames mingling together all over her body.

"You're on fire, Teegan!"

"B-Blue?" Teegan asked uncertainly. The blue masked turtle was smothering the flames with his bare hands. Seeing the muted pain in his face brought back a small amount of sensibility. Teegan shoved him away and rolled, quickly putting out the fire. When the only things showing that she'd been on fire seconds before was blackened, slightly burning, clothes and reeking smoke she pushed herself up.

Dizziness was the first thing she felt and she almost toppled over. Leonardo grabbed her and held her upright, using all his strength to do that one simple task. He hobbled them over to a dark corner in the alley he'd come out of and rested the woman he carried against a wall.

When she'd recovered a little, Leo's eyes reflected concern and curiosity, "Teegan, you... You just jumped out of a helicopter and got blown all the way here. T-Then you're on fire and you just sit there!? W-What is going on?"

Teegan blinked at him again and Leo drew in a quick breath. "Your eyes," He said.

She lifted an ash covered hand and touched the side of her head. A crackle of electricity followed by a small blue spark that jumped between her eye and her fingers brought a stifled yelp out of her. She arched her back and leaned her head back, clenching her teeth.

Without opening her eyes, she spoke, "Are my girls alright?"

"I think you should see that for yourself."

Teegan sensed hands coming closer. Her lightning eyes snapped open and she cried, "Don't!"

She was too late. Blue sparks travelled from her to the hands that had moved over her. The electricity coursed over Leonardo's green skin and he let out a cry of pain that he quickly bit off. The sparks continued a couple more seconds before crinkling out of existence.

Silvery grey met glowing blue. "We are going to talk about this, Teegan," He said firmly. Teegan looked down and murmured, "Sorry, Blue. So sorry."


End file.
